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query re on mangament of neutropenic patients – your thoughts and practices appreciated for their safer management & pt flow issues

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  • #71855
    Ryan, Lindy
    Participant

    Author:
    Ryan, Lindy

    Position:

    Organisation:

    State:

    Hello

    Hope you are all well

    Just a query & hope you can send me back your thoughts – so make it simple

    As we have a lot of pressure for our beds like all of you in health I was wondering what many of your facilities are doing with their neutropenia pts given the recent publication in our Journal HI 2014,19 135 – 140 Mitchell et al “prior room occupancy increases the risk of MRSA acquisition” .

    I am left wondering where the risk/logic / evidence lies to insist on neutropenia pts being placed in a single room as we all used to do…but do we still now? (& often these pts remain for long time in ED whilst a single room is located anywhere in the facility to take them …& ED is not always a low risk environment for this pt group ) given this information in the publication and as we know we cannot always guarantee our environmental cleaning is always at the highest standard each time …..when the push for bed and rapid bed movement occurs (no offences to our hard working cleaning team who are always under the pump intended) I was seeking your learned and expert advice with some quick questions below

    1. Can I ask if your facility is currently placing all patients admitted with no neutrophils (neutropenia) in single rooms – protective isolation Yes/ No

    2. Can I ask if your facility is currently only placing some types of patients with no neutrophils (neutropenia) in single rooms – protective isolation yes / No
    If yes what is your criteria for making this call?

    3. If you place a pt in protective isolation is PPE worn Yes/No/NA

    4. If you place a pt in protective isolation is a sign notifying protective isolation requirement placed on the door Yes/ No/NA

    5. If you do place them in a single room are these same rooms you use to accommodate MRO or pts with a communicable disease in at other times for other admissions Yes/No
    If No – how do you manage the use of these room from pt flow perspective (ie leave the room empty, screen all non known MRO pts admitted in these rooms to ensure they don’t have an MRO, trust they are cleaned well enough etc?)

    6. If you do not place neutropenia patients in single rooms then what strategies does you facility employ to reduce the risk of cross infection if not in a single room ? (do you have a dedicated ward, location or risk group they can be cohort with ,exclusion group they cant be admitted with etc)

    Thank you and I look forward to any responses with eagerness and any other thoughtful advice with much appreciation . Thank you Brett et al for you interesting and thought provoking article…I am trying to think forward to the best way to advise our staff here and what folks may already have in place around this and neutropenia pts

    Kind regards

    Lindy

    Lindy Ryan

    Infection prevention & Control Clinical Nurse Consultant (CNC) | Coffs Harbour Health Campus
    Pacific Hwy Coffs Harbour NSW 2450
    Tel (02) 6656 7770 | lindy.ryan@ncahs.health.nsw.gov.au
    http://www.health.nsw.gov.au

    [http://internal.health.nsw.gov.au/communications/e-signatures/images/NSW-Health-Mid-North-Coast-LHD.jpg]

    “Wise and human management of the patient is the best safeguard against infection”
    (Florence Nightingale Circa 1860)

    ________________________________

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    #71856
    Glenys Harrington
    Participant

    Author:
    Glenys Harrington

    Position:
    Consultant

    Organisation:
    Infection Control Consultancy (ICC)

    State:

    Hi Lindy,

    Last year I reviewed the evidence for placing all neutropenic patients in a single room (any single room) at a healthcare facility where it had been a long standing practice over many years.

    Using the following headings and questions here are my summary notes and answers to some of the questions you raise.

    Subject – Protective environment rooms and placement of immunocompromised/neutropenic patients

    Immunocompromised patient groups

    As a general group, immunocompromised patients can be cared for in the same environment as other patients.

    As with other patient groups exposure to persons with transmissible infections (i.e. influenza, respiratory viruses) should be managed by staff following Standard and Transmission based precautions

    What is a protective environment room?

    The specific ventilation criteria/requirements for a protective environment single room are as follows.

    A room with:

    >12 air exchanges per hour

    Point of use Hepa filters that are capable of removing 0.3m

    A pressure differential between the patient room and the anteroom or corridor to maintain positive pressure and

    A room that is well sealed (i.e. around the windows, electrical outlets)

    Which immunocompromised patient groups require placement in a protective environment room (as per above room ventilation criteria)?

    In addition to standard precautions those patients for whom there is evidence that placing them in a single room with specific ventilation requirements (i.e. protective environment room) are those who have received an allogeneic stem cell transplant.

    The need for patients receiving an autologous stem cell transplant to be placed in a single room with specific ventilation requirements (i.e. protective environment room) has not been established.

    Which immunocompromised patients may require placement in a single room with negative ventilation?

    In addition to standard precautions stem cell transplant recipients and other immunocompromised patients may from time to time require airborne precautions and will requiring a single room with negative ventilation (i.e. those with disseminated VZV, Mycobacterium Tuberculosis)

    Which immunocompromised patients may require placement in a single room with normal ventilation?

    In addition to standard precautions stem cell transplant recipients and other immunocompromised patients may from time to time require contact or droplet precautions and will require a single room with normal hospital ventilation (i.e. Pertussis, influenza, MRSA, VRE).

    What other hospital infection control strategies can be used to reduce the risk of infection in severely immunocompromised patients?

    Other strategies include the following:

    Construction, Renovation and Building

    Hospital construction and renovation has been associated with an increased risk of fungal infection, particularly aspergillosis, among severely immunocompromised patients

    Persons responsible for construction and renovation should consult published recommendations regarding environmental controls during construction

    Severely immunosuppressed patients, healthcare workers and visitors should avoid construction and renovation areas

    Equipment and supplies used by severely immunocompromised patients and their healthcare workers should not be exposed to construction or renovation areas (i.e. areas contaminated with dust).

    Cleaning

    Wards caring for severely immunocompromised patients should be cleaned 1 time/day with special attention to dust control

    Exhaust vents, window sills and all horizontal surfaces and high touch areas and equipment should be cleaned and disinfected daily

    Water leaks should be cleaned up and repaired within 72 hours to prevent mould proliferation in floor and wall coverings, ceiling tiles and cabinetry.

    Personal protective equipment

    Personal protective equipment should be worn in accordance with Standard and Transmission based precautions.

    Plants and dried or fresh flowers

    Plants and dried or fresh flowers should not be allowed in rooms of severely immunocompromised patients as Aspergillus species have been isolated from soil of potted ornamental plants (e.g. Cati), the surfaces of dried flower arrangement (dust contamination)and fresh flowers

    Addition strategies include the following:

    Healthcare worker immunisations and vaccinations

    Screening visitors, particularly children for potentially infectious conditions

    Preventing bacterial intravascular catheter-related infections.

    CDC. Guidelines for preventing opportunistic infections among hematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients. Recommendations of CDC, the Infectious Disease Society of America, and the American Society of Blood and Marrow Transplantation. MMWR – Morbidity & Mortality Weekly Report 2000; 49(RR-10):1-125.

    Following this review the practice of placing all neutropenic patients in a single room (any single room) was ceased.

    Regards

    Glenys

    Glenys Harrington

    Consultant

    Infection Control Consultancy (ICC)

    PO Box 5202

    Middle Park

    Victoria, 3206

    Australia

    M: +61 404 816 434

    infexion@ozemail.com.au

    ABN 47533508426

    Hello

    Hope you are all well

    Just a query & hope you can send me back your thoughts so make it simple

    As we have a lot of pressure for our beds like all of you in health I was wondering what many of your facilities are doing with their neutropenia pts given the recent publication in our Journal HI 2014,19 135 140 Mitchell et al prior room occupancy increases the risk of MRSA acquisition .

    I am left wondering where the risk/logic / evidence lies to insist on neutropenia pts being placed in a single room as we all used to dobut do we still now? (& often these pts remain for long time in ED whilst a single room is located anywhere in the facility to take them & ED is not always a low risk environment for this pt group ) given this information in the publication and as we know we cannot always guarantee our environmental cleaning is always at the highest standard each time ..when the push for bed and rapid bed movement occurs (no offences to our hard working cleaning team who are always under the pump intended) I was seeking your learned and expert advice with some quick questions below

    1. Can I ask if your facility is currently placing all patients admitted with no neutrophils (neutropenia) in single rooms protective isolation Yes/ No

    2. Can I ask if your facility is currently only placing some types of patients with no neutrophils (neutropenia) in single rooms protective isolation yes / No

    If yes what is your criteria for making this call?

    3. If you place a pt in protective isolation is PPE worn Yes/No/NA

    4. If you place a pt in protective isolation is a sign notifying protective isolation requirement placed on the door Yes/ No/NA

    5. If you do place them in a single room are these same rooms you use to accommodate MRO or pts with a communicable disease in at other times for other admissions Yes/No

    If No how do you manage the use of these room from pt flow perspective (ie leave the room empty, screen all non known MRO pts admitted in these rooms to ensure they dont have an MRO, trust they are cleaned well enough etc?)

    6. If you do not place neutropenia patients in single rooms then what strategies does you facility employ to reduce the risk of cross infection if not in a single room ? (do you have a dedicated ward, location or risk group they can be cohort with ,exclusion group they cant be admitted with etc)

    Thank you and I look forward to any responses with eagerness and any other thoughtful advice with much appreciation . Thank you Brett et al for you interesting and thought provoking articleI am trying to think forward to the best way to advise our staff here and what folks may already have in place around this and neutropenia pts

    Kind regards

    Lindy

    Lindy Ryan

    Infection prevention & Control Clinical Nurse Consultant (CNC) | Coffs Harbour Health Campus

    Pacific Hwy Coffs Harbour NSW 2450
    Tel (02) 6656 7770 | lindy.ryan@ncahs.health.nsw.gov.au
    http://www.health.nsw.gov.au

    http://internal.health.nsw.gov.au/communications/e-signatures/images/NSW-Health-Mid-North-Coast-LHD.jpg

    Wise and human management of the patient is the best safeguard against infection

    (Florence Nightingale Circa 1860)

    _____

    This message is intended for the addressee(s) named and may contain confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient, please delete the message and any attachments and notify the sender. Views expressed in this message are those of the individual sender, and are not necessarily the views of NSW Health or any of its entities.

    MESSAGES POSTED TO THIS LIST ARE SOLELY THE OPINION OF THE AUTHOR, AND DO NOT REPRESENT THE OPINION OF ACIPC.

    The use of trade/product/commercial brand names through the list is discouraged by ACIPC. If you wish to discuss specific reference to products or services by brand or commercial names, please do this outside the list.

    Archive of all messages are available at http://aicalist.org.au/archives – registration and login required.

    Replies to this message will be directed back to the list. To create a new message send an email to aicalist@aicalist.org.au

    To send a message to the list administrator send an email to aicalist-request@aicalist.org.au.

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    MESSAGES POSTED TO THIS LIST ARE SOLELY THE OPINION OF THE AUTHOR, AND DO NOT REPRESENT THE OPINION OF ACIPC.

    The use of trade/product/commercial brand names through the list is discouraged by ACIPC. If you wish to discuss specific reference to products or services by brand or commercial names, please do this outside the list.

    Archive of all messages are available at http://aicalist.org.au/archives – registration and login required.

    Replies to this message will be directed back to the list. To create a new message send an email to aicalist@aicalist.org.au

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    #71859
    Fiona de Sousa
    Participant

    Author:
    Fiona de Sousa

    Position:

    Organisation:

    State:

    Hi Lindy,

    I have responded to your questions in the email below. As a rule because our facility is a private facility most of our rooms are single rooms so placing neutropenic patients in these rooms is not an obstacle for us. The responses I have given below are based on current practice only and these practices have been mostly put together by our oncology clinical educator.

    Fiona De Sousa
    Infection Prevention & Control Coordinator
    Sydney Adventist Hospital
    Fiona.Desousa@sah.org.au
    185 Fox Valley Road, Wahroonga, NSW, 2076

    Hello

    Hope you are all well

    Just a query & hope you can send me back your thoughts – so make it simple

    As we have a lot of pressure for our beds like all of you in health I was wondering what many of your facilities are doing with their neutropenia pts given the recent publication in our Journal HI 2014,19 135 – 140 Mitchell et al “prior room occupancy increases the risk of MRSA acquisition” .

    I am left wondering where the risk/logic / evidence lies to insist on neutropenia pts being placed in a single room as we all used to do…but do we still now? (& often these pts remain for long time in ED whilst a single room is located anywhere in the facility to take them …& ED is not always a low risk environment for this pt group ) given this information in the publication and as we know we cannot always guarantee our environmental cleaning is always at the highest standard each time …..when the push for bed and rapid bed movement occurs (no offences to our hard working cleaning team who are always under the pump intended) I was seeking your learned and expert advice with some quick questions below

    1. Can I ask if your facility is currently placing all patients admitted with no neutrophils (neutropenia) in single rooms – protective isolation Yes/ No – YES

    2. Can I ask if your facility is currently only placing some types of patients with no neutrophils (neutropenia) in single rooms – protective isolation yes / No
    If yes what is your criteria for making this call?

    3. If you place a pt in protective isolation is PPE worn Yes/No/NA – This is dependent on the specific neutrophil count of the pt (e.g. 0 versus 1.5), any concurrent infectious condition the patient may have, and the patient load of the staff member caring for them.

    4. If you place a pt in protective isolation is a sign notifying protective isolation requirement placed on the door Yes/ No/NA – Yes

    5. If you do place them in a single room are these same rooms you use to accommodate MRO or pts with a communicable disease in at other times for other admissions Yes/No – Yes, we do not have any rooms with specialist air handling capabilities.
    If No – how do you manage the use of these room from pt flow perspective (ie leave the room empty, screen all non known MRO pts admitted in these rooms to ensure they don’t have an MRO, trust they are cleaned well enough etc?)

    6. If you do not place neutropenia patients in single rooms then what strategies does you facility employ to reduce the risk of cross infection if not in a single room ? (do you have a dedicated ward, location or risk group they can be cohort with ,exclusion group they cant be admitted with etc)

    Thank you and I look forward to any responses with eagerness and any other thoughtful advice with much appreciation . Thank you Brett et al for you interesting and thought provoking article…I am trying to think forward to the best way to advise our staff here and what folks may already have in place around this and neutropenia pts

    Kind regards

    Lindy

    Lindy Ryan

    Infection prevention & Control Clinical Nurse Consultant (CNC) | Coffs Harbour Health Campus
    Pacific Hwy Coffs Harbour NSW 2450
    Tel (02) 6656 7770 | lindy.ryan@ncahs.health.nsw.gov.au
    http://www.health.nsw.gov.au

    [http://internal.health.nsw.gov.au/communications/e-signatures/images/NSW-Health-Mid-North-Coast-LHD.jpg]

    “Wise and human management of the patient is the best safeguard against infection”
    (Florence Nightingale Circa 1860)

    ________________________________

    This message is intended for the addressee(s) named and may contain confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient, please delete the message and any attachments and notify the sender. Views expressed in this message are those of the individual sender, and are not necessarily the views of NSW Health or any of its entities.
    MESSAGES POSTED TO THIS LIST ARE SOLELY THE OPINION OF THE AUTHOR, AND DO NOT REPRESENT THE OPINION OF ACIPC.

    The use of trade/product/commercial brand names through the list is discouraged by ACIPC. If you wish to discuss specific reference to products or services by brand or commercial names, please do this outside the list.

    Archive of all messages are available at http://aicalist.org.au/archives – registration and login required.

    Replies to this message will be directed back to the list. To create a new message send an email to aicalist@aicalist.org.au

    To send a message to the list administrator send an email to aicalist-request@aicalist.org.au.

    You can unsubscribe from this list be sending ‘signoff aicalist’ (without the quotes) to listserv@aicalist.org.au

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    is prohibited. If you have received this message in error please notify the sender immediately, then destroy the original message.
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    MESSAGES POSTED TO THIS LIST ARE SOLELY THE OPINION OF THE AUTHOR, AND DO NOT REPRESENT THE OPINION OF ACIPC.

    The use of trade/product/commercial brand names through the list is discouraged by ACIPC. If you wish to discuss specific reference to products or services by brand or commercial names, please do this outside the list.

    Archive of all messages are available at http://aicalist.org.au/archives – registration and login required.

    Replies to this message will be directed back to the list. To create a new message send an email to aicalist@aicalist.org.au

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