Hospitals in pursuit of excellence

Infection Prevention Month in an Intensive Care Unit

Preventing health care-associated infections is a critical step in reducing morbidity and mortality in intensive care units. To increase awareness of prevention strategies, in August 2010, St. Elizabeth Medical Center established an Infection Prevention Awareness Month for the ICU. Buttons were created for the staff that stated "Infection Prevention-Because One is Too Many!" The areas of focus were: urinary tract infection, ventilator-associated pneumonia,central line-associated blood stream infection, multi drug-resistant organisms and hand-washing.