eBulletin April 2007 Edition 26
In this Edition:
Reminders:
| |
Data Due |
Reports posted |
| Type 1 |
4th May |
15th June |
| Type 2 |
30th April |
15th June |
Staff Movements at VICNISS Coordinating Centre
We are pleased to inform you that Judy Brett will be fulfilling Claire Boardman’s role as
Senior Infection Control Consultant for Type 1 hospitals with VICNISS Coordinating Centre whilst
Claire is on maternity leave for several months commencing 20th April. Judy has been working in
Infection Control for several years and is currently the Senior Infection Control Consultant at
Monash Medical Centre, Southern Health.
Judy commenced in her role at VICNISS this month and will be with us till early August.
Her contact details will be Ph 9342 3905 and email Judy Brett. Judy will continue to
provide the Type 1 hospitals with advice and discussion regarding any surveillance and other
infection control related queries you may have.
We also welcome Peter who has joined the team on a 12 month appointment as a Data Entry
Clerk and Administrative Assistant. Peter replaces Doreen Jenkins who recently left to pursue
other employment opportunities. In addition, Kylie Berry has returned from maternity leave
in a part-time capacity to assist maintaining website content, including the posting of quarterly
reports, and other ad hoc duties.
Routine Antibiotic Prophylaxis Recommendations
Several hospitals have requested an easy reference for recommended surgical antibiotic prophylaxis.
Ann Bull has summarised the 2006 TGA AB Guidelines into a quick reference table form,
“ROUTINE ANTIBIOTIC PROPHYLAXIS RECOMMENDATIONS SUMMARY”
(PDF File 
35kb, opens in new window) that you can print off and display, or keep with your data folders etc.
Note that this is a summary of the
guidelines and is not intended as a substitute. The ABPx data submitted by participating hospitals
will be assessed against these revised guidelines. Procedures where the guidelines outlined in this
table are followed are assessed as “Optimal” on your reports.
“Duration greater than 24 hours” field: Just a reminder that this field is intended to assess where
antibiotics are continued for longer than recommended after surgery. In cases where several doses
are administered after surgery, e.g., 3 x 8 hourly, and this goes for slightly longer than 24 hours,
please tick “No” in response to this question.
Influenza Data Collection - 2007
Just a reminder...
Employee influenza vaccine compliance rates are calculated as the number of non-casual employees*
vaccinated (numerator) divided by the number of non-casual employees* employed by the hospital
(denominator). Please ensure that the denominator and the numerator “match”, i.e. that the only
people who are included in the numerator are people also included in the denominator! For example,
if you have vaccinated some casual nurses do not include them in the
numerator as they will not be included in the denominator.
* non-casual employees includes Nurse Bank staff, excludes Nurse Agency staff.
Type 1 Surveillance Update
User Groups - via Teleconference
Last month Claire surveyed Type 1 participants via email to determine whether phone conferences for
future VUGs would be a suitable alternative to face-to-face meetings at VICNISS. This option suited
most and so two VUGs have been organised as per below:
NEONATAL ICU VUG
| Time: | Wednesday, 16th May 2007 at 10.30 - 11.30am via phone conference |
| Audience: | All NNL participants - MMC, RWH, RCH, Mercy Womens |
| Discussion: | Difficult LC-BSI cases |
SURGICAL SITE INFECTION VUG
| Time: | Wednesday, 16th May 2007 at 3.30 - 4.30pm via phone conference |
| Audience: | All Type 1 participants |
| Discussion: | Difficult surgical cases, e.g., COLO, CSEC, HPRO, KPRO procedure groups |
To assist with preparation for the VUGs please RSVP by Wednesday, 9th May to
vicniss @ mh.org.au
and Judy will forward a template to complete for each of your cases which she will compile and distribute prior
to the VUGs
Details of how to participate via phone will be forwarded prior to the VUG along with case
presentations for discussion. You will be given a phone number to call and an access code.
“How to read reports workshop” - There are several new ICCs who might be interested in attending a
workshop to find out how to read and interpret your results. So, if you are new to surveillance or, have
never attended one of these sessions it is probably time. You might find everything about the reports
falls in to place.
| DATE: | Wednesday, 16th May 2007 |
| TIME: | 12.30 - 3.00pm (lunch provided at 12pm) |
| VENUE: | VICNISS, 10 Wreckyn St, North Melbourne
(click here for a Map, PDF File
88kb, opens in new window) |
Register your interest in attending the Education Workshop by RSVP to vicniss @ mh.org.au.
ICU Central Line Associated Bloodstream
Infection (CLABSI) Validation Study
In 2007 the VICNISS Coordinating Centre in accordance with the VICNISS DHS deliverables, is planning
to undertake a study to validate the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) Central Line Associated Bloodstream
Infection (CLABSI) module and to measure the quality of the data.
Six hospitals have been randomly selected for this study. Three large hospitals were randomly
selected from the “Group A1” ICUs and three small hospitals were randomly
chosen from the “Other” ICUs who undertake the module. The aim is to estimate the sensitivity,
specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive values of surveillance of CLABSIs.
Both CLABSI and non-CLABSI bacteraemias will be assessed and investigators will be blind to
the initial categorisation given by the hospital. The validation process involves VICNISS
investigators reviewing patient details against a standard case definition to determine whether
a particular ICU associated bacteraemia is a CLABSI or not.
Results from the study wil be made available on completion towards the end of the year.
As a number of hospitals have changed CEOs/Executive sponsors/ICC staff/ICU beds etc., Judy will be in
contact by phone with the ICC coordinator at each Type 1 hospital to verify your hospitals
demographic data. This type of survey has not been undertaken since VICNISS commenced in 2002 -
definitely time to review the data!
Type 2 Surveillance Update
For your information...
- In the latest VICNISS report, the primary laboratory confirmed bloodstream infection (BSI)
Statewide aggregate rate decreased. This is because extensive data quality checking of the BSI
module was completed. Twenty-six BSIs were excluded from the database. This was primarily
because secondary BSIs were incorrectly reported as primary infections.
- This quarter, data quality checking is to be undertaken on the Surgical Infection Report module.
- A web-based data collection form has been developed for the Occupational Exposure module.
It is currently being piloted in some Type 2 hospitals. It is anticipated that eventually all
Type 2 data will be able to be entered via these web-based forms.
Society of Healthcare Epidemiology Association (SHEA) Conference – Baltimore
VICNISS Coordinating Centre staff had several abstracts accepted for the SHEA 2007 Conference
14-17 April in Baltimore.
- Deb Friedman (currently working in the USA) presented her paper on “An Alternative
Scoring System to Predict Risk for Surgical Site Infection Complicating Coronary Artery Bypass Graft
Surgery” and a poster on “Validation of Coronary Artery Bypass Graft Surgical Site Infection
Surveillance Data from a Statewide Surveillance System in Australia”.
- Phil Russo presented a paper titled “The Effect on Hospital Rankings when Using Different
Numerators to Calculate Surgical Site Infection Rates Following Coronary Artery Bypass Graft Surgery”.
- Noleen Bennett presented two posters: “A Statewide Smaller Hospital Nosocomial
Infection Surveillance Program: An Update Report, Victoria, Australia” and “A User Evaluation of
a Statewide Smaller Hospital Nosocomial Infection Surveillance Program”.
Full abstracts of these presentations will be available shortly on the VICNISS website.
Infection Control Literature Review, April 2007
Our most recent literature
review, for April, compiled by Dr Emma McBryde, VICNISS Infectious Diseases
Physician, discusses current research on the following selected topics:
- NNIS Score Performs Badly in Predicting Risk of Surgical Site Infection after Paediatric Cardiac Surgery
- Doctors may be Stealth Dosing Restricted Antibiotics
- VICNISS Study on Type 2 Hospitals Shows High Specificity but Low Sensitivity in Finding
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Bloodstream Infections
- Guidelines for Reporting Outbreak and Intervention Studies of Nosocomial Infection
VICPA/VICNISS Journal Club
The VICPA/VICNISS Journal Club was initiated with the aim of providing a forum for infection
control professionals to more widely engage with literature and published data in the
field. To date we have had three meetings with more than 25 participants attending each session.
Evaluations demonstrate that attendees value the information presented and, the ability to
discuss contemporary issues presented in the literature reviews.
The next journal club will be held at Mercy Hospital for Women, Heidelberg on Friday 8th
June 2007. Further details regarding presenters and topics for the next journal club will be
available on both the VICNISS and VICPA websites: (www.vicpa.org.au).
In 2007 VICPA & VICNISS will be co-hosting 5 sessions held bi-monthly that will be held at hospitals
around Melbourne. Click here for further Journal Club dates and venues
www.vicpa.org.au/Default.aspx?c=367&ct=3
For further enquiries please contact VICPA Education Officer, Lorraine Wilson at
lorrainew @ fmh.com.au
or Judy Brett at VICNISS.
Online Education Modules
A reminder to all that the following education modules are available through our website:
- Surveillance
- Measles
- Multi Resistant Organisms
- Surgical Antibiotic Prophylaxis
- Influenza
- Occupational Exposures
The modules are self directed, allowing you to set your own pace, and chose which module(s)
you are interested in. Each module contains several learning activities and opportunities for you to
consolidate your learning.
Feedback is always welcome - please let us know if there are other topics that you would like included.
*Final Weeks* - VICNISS International Conference Award
- Asia Pacific Society of Infection Control (APSIC), July 2007 Kuala Lumpur
As announced at the launch of our Year 4 Annual Report, the VICNISS Coordinating Centre, in conjunction with the Victorian Partnership in Advanced Computing (VPAC) is offering an International Conference award.
The VICNISS International Conference award aims to facilitate attendance by one Infection Control nurse at the International Congress of the Asia Pacific Society of Infection Control (APSIC), July 2007 Kuala Lumpur. The award is only available to those who have an Oral Presentation accepted for the conference. The award will fund one economy airfare (to the value of $1500) and full conference registration to APSIC 2007.
To view the terms and conditions of the award, please see the VICNISS Application Form (PDF File
35kb, opens in new window).
The closing date for applications to VICNISS is Friday 1st June 2007.
To view details of this conference, go to
www.apsic2007.com/.
Abstracts for APSIC 2007 closing date was extended to 31st March 2007.
VICNISS Coordinating Centre wish to acknowledge and are very grateful for the support
of VPAC with this award.
