Listen as our hosts speak with researcher Jingjing Shang about increasing flu vaccination of home healthcare personnel using policies, easy access to vaccine, and incentives. Also, tune in to hear from infection preventionist Debra Runyan about what a decade-long study tells us about how fogging can help in efforts to reduce C. difficile.

Listen as our hosts speak with Infection Preventionist Lisa Sturm about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on hospital-onset bloodstream infections (HOBSI) in one large health system. What can we learn from this system's experiences during the pandemic to help us reduce healthcare-associated infections?

Listen as we speak with our guests about how technology can impact the daily work of infection preventionists, specifically using the electronic medical record (EMR) to better predict possible outbreaks, respond to them more quickly, and to better differentiate between community and hospital onset infections. Further, we'll discuss possible methods of improving patient outcomes while in isolation, the lack of quality evidence for effective interventions, and the need for future research in this area.

Listen as our hosts talk with Dr. Gina Piscitello of Rush University Medical Center about a study she and her colleagues conducted entitled “COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy among Health Care Workers, Communication and Policy-Making.” During this episode hosts discuss the Health Belief Model used in this study, whether vaccine hesitancy among healthcare workers impacts public hesitancy, who the public trusts for advice on vaccination, and what the implications are for the current pandemic and future events.

Listen as our hosts talk with Dr. Selcen Kilinc-Balci, an author of a National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) study that illustrates the importance of looking closely at how gowns and gloves work together to protect healthcare workers. The discussion provides insight into what can be done now to help protect healthcare personnel, and what may be considered as part of future standards development.

Listen as our hosts talk with educator and researcher Dr. Zainab Toteh Osakwe about her article on the intense experiences of Home Health Aides during the COVID-19 Pandemic in New York City. Learn how this situation applies to the everyday infection prevention needs of HHAs and how we can better meet their critical need for information.

Listen as our hosts talk with another infection preventionist (IP) and a physician about IP and anesthesia working together on PPE. Next, they talk with the inventor of a new automated device that captures portable medical equipment disinfection data. Go to AJIC for more information about our guests and to access the related AJIC articles.

Listen as our hosts discuss the intensity of the experiences of infection preventionists (IPs) during the first 9-months of the COVID-19 pandemic through input gleaned from IPs in rural, urban and suburban settings. These experiences serve to highlight the important role of IPs in pandemic preparedness, emergency management, and crisis standards of care.

Infection preventionists discuss two issues with authors of articles in the August issue of the American Journal of Infection Control (AJIC):

(1) the shedding of MRSA and multi-drug resistant gram-negative bacilli and how to prevent the spread of these organisms outpatient settings;

(2) how a team science approach can be helpful in bringing together antibiotic stewardship and infection prevention teams and the importance of team science approaches in general.