Easy as A, B, C. difficile

EMPLOYEES MUST WASH HANDS BEFORE RETURNING TO WORK.

I hardly notice the sign in our office anymore.   It reminds me each day to protect myself from thousands of unseen enemies lying in wait, growing in strength and numbers, and elated at the prospect of hostile takeover; still I largely ignore the importance of its message.  Like most people, I have trained myself to wash my hands as an afterthought, out of habit rather than horror.  It’s so simple and effective and it has become second nature. 

Also, like most direct care employees at nursing homes, the last thing I want is another reminder of the importance of washing hands.  Yet, here we are; in a time of instant hand sanitizer, bleach based cleaning products, and hundreds of policies and procedures on universal infection control; we endure a 4% - 20% rate of Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) colonization in nursing home residents.  Even worse, during an outbreak of the nasty little organism, up to 30% of residents might be infected.  If training, warning and flooding caregivers with reminders about infection control leaves us with such unacceptable numbers, what else can administrators, corporate ownership groups and clinical leaders do to prevent C. difficile from riding roughshod through their facilities? 

Unlike acute care hospitals, which generally have the atmosphere and staffing needed to successfully implement most universal precautions, nursing homes have several restrictions and even some fundamental operating policies that make it difficult to contain the spread of infections. 

Our customers’ facilities are social by nature.  Group activities are important to the residents and staff and isolating a patient with potential signs of C. difficile isn’t always harmonious with the goal of maximizing quality of life for the residents.  The vast majority (over 80%) of C. difficile reports are in adults age 65 or older in an institutionalized setting; and the typical case occurs just after antibiotic treatment.  If nursing homes were expected to be on high alert for these indicators, they may turn into a C. difficile ward, rather than a warm setting for loved ones to receive rehabilitation and end of life care. 

We don’t believe our customers should sacrifice their methods of caring for our grandmas and grandpas by caving in to the threat of an outbreak.  Although nursing homes may struggle with appropriate staffing, a lack of on-site diagnostic tools which could prevent the use of broad spectrum antibiotics, and the quantity and availability of preventative tools such as single use gowns or enough isolation areas like acute care hospitals; they shouldn’t struggle with a partner that inadvertently impacts the risk of outbreak. 

We take precautions above and beyond other vendors to make sure we work for you as part of the solution, not part of the problem.  We are conscious of the risk that portable equipment can be a vehicle for infections like C. difficile to move from room to room and we require that it is meticulously cleaned with products like Steriplex SD.  Our caregivers are always attentive to how our mere presence impacts the spread of infection because we train them rigorously on universal precautions and methods of cleaning that are specific to portable imaging.  At Source Diagnostics, we have made infection control as important as that little sign in the bathroom.