Reaping the Rewards of a Layered Approach

Author: Holly Montejano, MS, CIC, CPHQ, VA-BC

October 17, 2022

What comes of compliance monitoring and performance feedback when results are good? Sharing the successes resulting from patient satisfaction initiatives...

Hepatitis A Virus: Wreaking Havoc for Public Health

Author: Holly Montejano, MS, CIC, CPHQ, VA-BC

August 8, 2022

Hepatitis A virus (HAV) is not for the faint of heart! This highly contagious and vaccine-preventable virus attacks the liver,...

The “Why” Behind a Layered Approach

Author: Holly Montejano, MS, CIC, CPHQ, VA-BC

July 20, 2022

Dovetailing on the previous Human Factors Engineering (HFE) blog, the Swiss cheese model in healthcare quality, published in The British...

IP and EVS as a Dynamic Duo: The Importance of Partnership

Author: Holly Montejano, MS, CIC, CPHQ, VA-BC

July 6, 2022

Decision-making in healthcare typically benefits from a multi-disciplinary approach.  The expertise and considerations presented during a decision-making process by those...

How the Pandemic has Impacted Public Health Hand Hygiene: Product Demand and Product Safety

Author: Holly Montejano, MS, CIC, CPHQ, VA-BC

April 13, 2022

While hand hygiene has been a mainstay in healthcare infection prevention, the focus on this practice has been heightened in...

Q&A with Infection Prevention Expert on Candida auris

Author: Holly Montejano, MS, CIC, CPHQ, VA-BC

October 21, 2021

Candida auris is a newly emerged fungal pathogen that is often resistant to antifungal drugs. It is a serious global health...

WHO and Infection Prevention and Control in the Primary Care Setting: Guiding IP (Programs) Along the Continuum of Care

Author: Holly Montejano, MS, CIC, CPHQ, VA-BC

October 14, 2021

Infection prevention and control (IPC) efforts in the acute care setting have proven imperative to patient safety initiatives and good...

Putting the New AORN Guidelines into Practice with Profend® Nasal Decolonization Kit and Prevantics® Skin Products

Author: Holly Montejano, MS, CIC, CPHQ, VA-BC

July 6, 2021

In May 2021, AORN released the e-publication of their newly updated Guideline for Preoperative Patient Skin Antisepsis (with book publication...

Infusion Nurses Society (INS) 2021 Guidelines Update: Q&A with Infection Prevention Expert on Guidance for Skin Antisepsis

Author: Holly Montejano, MS, CIC, CPHQ, VA-BC

June 17, 2021

In January 2021, the Infusion Nurses Society (INS) released the 8th edition of the Infusion Therapy Standards of Practice, which...

Tale of Two Bugs: Has Candida auris taken advantage of SARS-CoV-2’s afflicted? Part 2

Author: Holly Montejano, MS, CIC, CPHQ, VA-BC

December 8, 2020

Candida auris (c. auris) appears to be taking advantage of hospitalized patients during the pandemic. As with all MDROs, colonization...

Multi-Drug Resistant Organisms (MDROs) Playing the Pandemic to Their Advantage? Part 1

Author: Holly Montejano, MS, CIC, CPHQ, VA-BC

The Battle at Hand: There is concern that COVID-19 hospitalizations will affect current efforts to mitigate transmission of multi-drug resistant...

Microbial Magnets: Mobile Handheld Devices (and other popular items!) in the Operating Room

Author: Holly Montejano, MS, CIC, CPHQ, VA-BC

March 23, 2020

While patients are vulnerable to healthcare-associated infections (HAI) across the healthcare setting, patients preparing for and undergoing invasive procedures in...