The Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association (AzHHA), Arizona Chapter of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) with the support of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona (BCBSAZ) is launching a campaign to prevent the spread of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in Arizona. The initiative-Preventing MRSA: It’s In Our Hands-will be introduced to Arizona hospital patient safety & infection control leaders on May 15th, & rolled out to consumers by individual hospitals throughout the next 18 months.
"The best way to curb the spread of MRSA is to prevent it,” said Maureen Dicker chair, AzHHA’s Patient Safety Steering Committee and Patient Safety officer, Veterans Integrated Service Network 18. “That’s why Arizona's hospital community, the state’s largest locally based insurer & the leading organization of infection control professionals are collaborating on a statewide project designed to educate consumers & remind hospital caregivers as well as other employees about how to prevent MRSA.”
Hospitals will receive MRSA education materials focusing on proven prevention strategies for patients & their families as well as hospital employees. Hospitals will have access to communications materials, including pamphlets, a fact sheet & other informational tools to distribute through their facilities & within their communities. Materials are being produced in English & Spanish.
Preventing MRSA: It’s In Our Hands, will focus consumers on simple MRSA prevention methods, including:
* washing hands often with either soap & warm water or with an alcohol-based waterless hand sanitizer.
* keeping cuts & scrapes clean & covered with a bandage until healed.
* avoiding the of sharing personal items such as towels, washcloths, bar soaps & razors.
* cleaning & disinfecting objects as well as commonly touched surfaces (keyboards, light switches & door knobs).
* washing clothes, linens & towels in warm water & laundry detergent.
* using a hot drier, rather than air-drying, also helps kill bacteria.
* taking antibiotics as instructed.
* obtaining antibiotics from the proper source.
"Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona is proud to support this project & work with AzHHA as well as APIC to help alleviate MRSA infections at the site of care,” said Gary Drue Smethers, M.D., senior vice president, Health Services & chief medical officer of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona. “By helping to share best practices, we can make a positive impact on this important public health issue.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) data, MRSA is on the rise. In 1974, MRSA infections accounted for 2% of total staph infections; in 1995 that number rose to 22% & by 2004 it had jumped to 63%. In June 2007, APIC published a study indicating 46 out of every 1,000 patients in the study were infected or colonized with MRSA. Of the 46, 35 of these patients, or 3 out of every 4, walked into the healthcare facilities with MRSA, having acquired it either in the community or during a previous stay in a healthcare facility.
"Many people think that MRSA is only contracted in healthcare facilities,” said Barb Averyt, AzHHA’s Patient Safety program director. “What makes the MRSA bacteria particularly difficult to manage is that is not contained to one kind of facility. This is why it is vitally important for our community to be aware of MRSA & how to prevent it, which sometimes can be as easy as washing your hands with soap & warm water.”
Every Arizona hospital has an active infection control program with doctors & nurses who specialize in preventing infections. APIC’s mission is to improve the health & safety of patients by reducing risks of infection & other adverse outcomes. APIC has more than 11,000 members nationally that have primary responsibility for infection prevention, control & hospital epidemiology in healthcare settings around the globe, & include nurses, epidemiologists, physicians, microbiologists, clinical pathologists, laboratory technologists & public health practitioners.
"Resistant staph infections are a significant problem in Arizona & throughout the nation,” said Mary Ann Yahl, president of APIC Chapter 88 & manager of Infection Prevention & Control at Banner Desert Medical Center in Mesa. “It is important for our community inside & outside the hospitals’ walls to know that it is possible to prevent the spread of MRSA. Everyone needs to be aware that the solution is really in our hands.”
Arizona's hospitals also have embraced The Institute for Healthcare Improvement’s (IHI) 100,000 Lives Campaign & 5 Million Lives Campaign. These campaigns include a total of 12 patient safety strategies, 5 of which focus on reducing infections, including one that combats MRSA in the hospital setting. According to the IHI, 85% of Arizona's hospitals are participating in the 5 Million Lives Campaign, which recommends the following measures to prevent healthcare-associated MRSA.
* Improve hand hygiene among healthcare workers.
* Make fastidious environmental cleaning & disinfection a priority.
* Consider performing active surveillance cultures.
* Identify colonized patients & implement contact precautions.
* Implement & perform all interventions specified in the central line & ventilator bundles (a collection of best practice interventions that help protect patients from infection & other complications).
Beyond the 5 Million Lives recommendations, hospitals also typically employ additional measures to prevent the spread of infections such as MRSA. These include:
* carefully cleaning equipment.
* having hospital staff members wear gowns & gloves while in the room of a patient diagnosed with MRSA or another infectious disease.
* using antibiotic-coated catheters.