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Robert Hadley | Mar 29, 2017

Preventable infections highlighted during Patient Safety Week

As part of Patient Safety Week, the Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality highlighted the safety of nursing home residents.

The fact that about 3.8 million people living in nursing facilities suffer from health care-associated infections (HAIs) on an annual basis is a topic of concern for the the agency.

Dr. James I. Cleeman, director of the Division of Healthcare-Associated Infections, wrote on the agency's website that this year’s Patient Safety Week, which was March 12-18, would address best practices to avoid the preventable condition that claims almost 400,000 people annually.

Focusing on health care-associated infections, the AHRQ highlighted a number of best practices, like avoiding the use of catheters and other devices when contraindicated.

A set of guidelines, which engage residents and caregivers alike, was developed in partnership with the Health Research & Educational Trust and made available to nursing facilities to help identify situations where HAIs could be avoided.

Reducing the occurrence of infections eliminates the need for antibiotics, enabling them to be more useful in the long term, according to the agency's website.

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