Minimizing Infection

Preventing health care-acquired infections is a priority for UVM Health. Our goal is to eliminate infections that are preventable and minimize those that are not preventable.

All clinical staff are trained to prevent health care-acquired infections. They follow recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Vermont and New York Departments of Health and take a number of important steps to prevent infections in the course of patient care.

• All health care providers are required to wear gloves when they perform tasks such as drawing blood and touching wounds or bodily fluids.
• All health care providers are required to wash or sanitize their hands before and after seeing each patient.
• Our surgical staff takes special measures to prevent the spread of bacteria during surgery.
• We proactively test everyone admitted to our Intensive Care Units for Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and decolonize (remove the infection from) selected surgical patients.

Our Environmental Services teams have received national recognition for their success and innovation in cleaning and testing the cleanliness of our patient rooms after disinfecting.

As a patient, there are several things you can do to minimize your risk of infection:

• Make sure family and friends clean their hands with soap and water or an alcohol-based hand sanitizer before and after visiting you.
• Remember to clean your hands frequently: before and after you leave a room, before you eat and after using the bathroom.

Infection Prevention Outcomes

We participate in the CDC benchmarking program so we can compare ourselves to other health care organizations that report data on infection rates.

At facilities across our health system, rates of many major infections are at or below national averages, including:

• MRSA
• C. difficile
• Central line infections
• Heart surgery infections
• Hysterectomy infections
• Total hip infections
• Total knee infections

Bringing in a list of the medications you are currently taking (or the actual medications) is the best way to help us avoid medication errors. Know the medications you are taking and be actively involved whenever medications are being administered to you. This helps to ensure that you are taking the proper medications. If you do not know why you are receiving a medication, ask your doctor or nurse to explain.

UVM Health has several measures in place to protect our patients from falls. Here are some things you can do to reduce your risk of a fall:

• Always ask for help from your nurse if you need to get out of bed or use the bathroom – especially at night. It is our pleasure to assist you to prevent falls and injuries.
• Keep your nurse call button near you.
• Make sure there is enough light to see.
• If you need eyeglasses to see, keep them near you.
• Never climb over your bed rails.
• Wear rubber-soled slippers to reduce the risk of slipping.

The Safe Mobility Program at UVM Medical Center is helping to make it safer for staff and patients when it comes to patient handling.

All hospital employees are required to wear photo identification badges so you can know your care team.

All admitted patients are identified by patient ID bands with a bar code that carries important patient information. Your providers will scan your identification bracelet before giving medication, drawing blood or performing a procedure. For your safety, please do not remove this bracelet.

To help us minimize the chances of a bedbug problem developing, we request that patients take the following preventive measures.

• Please only bring necessary items into the hospital. Clothes, blankets, luggage, bags and other possessions that are not essential during a patient's stay should be left at home.
• Items brought into the hospital should be placed in plastic or paper bags. Please ask the Information Desk or a medical staff member for a bag to hold your items.
• Patients will be asked by medical staff members if they are currently in contact with bed bugs or have been exposed to them in the recent past. If the answer to either of those questions is yes, belongings and clothing will be decontaminated with a short-duration heat treatment and then returned to the patient.
• If you are a visitor of a patient and are currently in contact with bed bugs or have been exposed to them in the recent past, we ask that you not come to the hospital, if possible.

• Make sure you know how to use the nurse call button and emergency cords in all showers and bathrooms.
• Your doctor or nurse should approve all food that comes from home or a restaurant.
• No one but staff should touch medical equipment. Ask staff to explain what the equipment does and what the alarms mean. Call your nurse if an alarm sounds. Do NOT silence an alarm yourself.