Infection Prevention
Infection is a concern at hospitals and in communities nationwide. Organisms that cause infections can occur everywhere, not just medical settings.
Infections are becoming more common and more complex, making them difficult to treat in some cases. Some infections are also hard to fight due to the overuse of antibiotics.
Germs Stop Here
To protect our patients, Enloe Health has implemented rigorous infection control measures. They are guided by an infectious disease expert and supported by specially trained nurses.
Sanitization
One of the best ways to prevent infection is by simply washing your hands. Handwashing is one of the quality initiatives at Enloe Health. In addition to strict standards, we encourage employees and patients alike to ask any caregivers who come in contact with patients if they have washed their hands.
Enloe offers alcohol-based waterless hand-washing gel throughout our facilities, so it’s readily available.
Signage
We display prominent signage in all rooms reminding caregivers and visitors to wash their hands regularly to prevent the spread of infection. These efforts have resulted in good hand hygiene compliance for our staff.
Education
Enloe Health adopted best practices from the Institute for Healthcare Improvement’s “5 Million Lives Campaign,” which aims to reduce medical harm in the U.S.
We regularly educate our medical and nursing staffs about identification and treatment of specific infections.
Surveillance
We implemented ICNet, a surveillance software that helps track patients and their data while they’re in our care.
Healing
We promote healing through the management of diabetic and pre-diabetic blood sugar levels.
Immunization
Members of our medical staff get vaccinated against influenza and COVID-19.
Even One Infection Is Too Many
While Enloe has a great record on hospital-acquired infection, we believe one infection is too many and work to prevent them every day. We constantly review and tighten our infection control policies.
And, like all hospitals, we’re subject to regular and unannounced reviews and drop-in visits from the Joint Commission, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid, and the California State Department of Health Services.
