PRINCETON – Following the success of collaborative work groups focused on specific conditions, the New Jersey Hospital Association is launching a year-long webinar series featuring Linda Greene, RN, MSN, CIC, a national expert with the University of Rochester Medical Center, to provide cutting-edge insight on healthcare-associated infections.
The webinar series, called “The Power of ZERO: HAI Kills,” is in the spirit of the Partnership for Patients initiative by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The complimentary programs are open to all healthcare providers, regardless of location.
The webinar series begins Friday, Sept. 23, at 1 p.m., with Greene covering the topic of Clostridium difficile, or more commonly known as C. diff. Greene will also moderate programs on multiple-drug resistant organisms, catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI), central line-associated blood stream infections (CLASBI), ventilator-associated pneumonia and other conditions that interfere with quality care.
“Having Linda lead our participants through the continuum of HAI-prevention gives us all access to the most recent thinking on infection control,” said Aline Holmes, RN, DNP, senior vice president of clinical affairs for NJHA and director of the New Jersey Institute for Quality and Patient Safety. “Everything from changing terminology to new protocols, because of Linda’s experience in the industry, our participants will know first.”
With more than 25 years of experience in infection prevention and control and healthcare quality, Greene is president-elect of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) and serves as national faculty for the “On the CUSP Stop CAUTI” initiative which is coordinated by the Health Research & Educational Trust with funding from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Greene has served on several advisory councils including the New York State Advisory Panel on Public Reporting of healthcare-associated infections, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s VAE Surveillance Definition Task Force and the CDC’s Surveillance Definition work group.
The “virtual collaborative” will work to highlight connections between healthcare-associated infections, impart the value of patient and family engagement in care and remind all members of care teams that small practices will have big results.
NJHA’s participation in the Partnership for Patients began in 2012, when the association was selected to serve as one of 27 Hospital Engagement Networks (HENs) in the nation. HEN participants reduced many HAI incidences substantially, including pressure ulcers, central line infections and catheter-associated urinary tract infections through collaborative educational sessions. In the course of the first HEN program, from 2012-2014, more than 13,730 cases of harm were averted and healthcare costs savings were projected to be more than $120 million.
“I am continually proud of the milestones New Jersey healthcare providers are achieving in reducing healthcare-associated infections, but the work is not done,” said Betsy Ryan, president and CEO of NJHA. “Bringing Linda Greene on board to guide our continued performance improvement is a powerful next step in this journey.”
Several scheduled webinars in the series have been announced, including:
- Friday, Oct. 21, 1 p.m., multiple-drug resistant organisms, and
- Thursday, Nov. 17, 1 p.m., catheter-associated urinary tract infections
Healthcare providers interested in participating can register for the webinars on the NJHA web site, at www.njha.com/education.
