This year's theme, Vaccines are Everybody’s Business, highlights the importance of protecting public health through vaccination.

The agency urges health care providers to use duodenoscopes with disposable endcaps to simplify cleaning and reduce contamination.

An expert panel will share the evidence behind current guidance for opioid tapering and how to apply this guidance in practice, as well as case studies and pain management challenges from the field.

An unauthorized person potentially could wirelessly connect to a nearby MiniMed insulin pump and change the pump settings.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is expecting a three- to 10-month nationwide shortage of Aplisol, used in tuberculin skin tests.

A new Vital Signs report calls on health care providers to increase prevention efforts for Staphylococcus aureus infections.

The hospital-acquired condition rate, which captures 28 patient safety event measures, decreased 13 percent from 2014 to 2017.

A Centers for Disease Control & Prevention toolkit provides educational resources and social media messaging for Antibiotics Awareness Week 2018.

These no-cost, downloadable cards include ready-to-use infection prevention assessment forms tailored to 19 common themes, environments, or patient populations.

This yearlong global initiative challenges governments, private industries, and nongovernmental organizations to commit to reducing antibiotic and antimicrobial resistance.

The resources include a 12-step guide for reducing readmissions and a bilingual guide to aid patients and caregivers following discharge from the hospital.

The toolkit, released as part of National Immunization Awareness Month, includes sample news releases and articles, social media content, and media outreach tools.

This second segment of a no-cost, online training course focuses on outpatient antibiotic stewardship and communicating with patients; participants can receive up to eight hours of continuing education credit.

The June 19 webinar features a patient perspective on environmental disinfection in dialysis stations, along with strategies for enacting best practices.

Amid a critical drug shortage, manufacturer Hospira released special handling instructions for lots of Carpuject Luer Lock Glass Syringe products that potentially could contain cracked needle hubs and particulate.

The funding will be awarded for research on patient safety improvements in perinatal, neonatal, and pediatric care in routine hospital and intensive care settings.

The agency outlines a five-step containment process and provides resources for health departments, labs, and health care providers.

The new rules allow surveyors to penalize a hospital for a deficiency if an individual fails to perform hand hygiene in the process of direct patient care.

This year's theme, We Are All Patients, encourages health care providers to stand with patients and stresses the importance of patient engagement in safe care.

Three lots of the injectable opioid medication Hydromorphone HCl, distributed by Hospira and Teva, were recalled due to broken and cracked glass vials.

Health care professionals who complete the four-part web training program are eligible to receive up to eight hours of continuing education credit.

Cracks in the defibrillator's gas discharge tube can allow gases to escape and the device to malfunction when used in automated external defibrillator mode.

Administrators must review and sign the updated agreement by April 14 to retain access to the National Healthcare Safety Network.

The agency has found marked progress over a decade in eliminating five health care–associated infections (HAIs), and offers an update on the Department of Health and Human Services' five-year goals to reduce HAIs.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will observe Antibiotics Awareness Week with a Twitter chat and webinar on Nov. 16.

These awards will support antibiotic resistance research with a focus on the human microbiome, environmental settings, and health care settings.

With 153 clinical C. auris cases reported in the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued updated infection control guidelines.

This video shares strategies to improve injection safety and reduce infection risks in narcotic diversion; participants must sign up for a free Medscape account to view the video.

The unexpired products by Bella Pharmaceuticals were distributed to health care facilities across the country from April 17 to Aug. 10; if not sterile, they could cause potentially life-threatening infections.

The voluntary recall has been expanded to include various dietary supplements, such as liquid vitamin D drops and liquid multivitamins marketed for infants and children.

Health professionals are encouraged to join social media campaigns, attend informational calls and webinars, and review a new fact sheet on Candida auris.

The funding will support state and local health departments in testing for drug-resistant fungi and promote the use of whole genome sequencing in testing.

The stool softeners could be contaminated with B. cepacia, a bacteria that could infect patients with compromised immune systems or chronic lung conditions.

The voluntary recall was issued after a customer reported particulate matter in a container of the product, which later was identified as stainless steel.

The report outlines programs implemented by hospitals and public health departments across the country to improve antibiotic prescribing practices as part of the agency's Antibiotic Resistance Solutions Initiative.

Fujifilm will contact all customers by October for replacement parts and loan customers duodenoscopes to use during the replacement period.

The project seeks to reduce harms caused by inappropriate antibiotic use; registration is open for a one-hour introductory webinar about the project.

Despite reductions in opioid prescribing, the amount of opioids prescribed in 2015 still was triple the amount prescribed in 1999.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data show incidence of Clostridium difficile in hospitals and nursing homes fell for the first time in decades.

The video is the third in a series by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention about challenges to preventing health care-associated infections.

The list includes reusable medical devices with the greatest risk of transmitting an infection or performing poorly if not properly reprocessed.

This year, 77 U.S. cases of Candida auris have been reported; the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is assisting health agencies in affected areas.

Magellan Diagnostics' LeadCare Analyzers could produce inaccurate blood lead test results when used with venous blood samples.

The new guidance updates recommendations issued in 1999; recommendations are categorized based on the quality of available supporting evidence.

The Phillips HeartStart MRx Monitor/Defibrillator might not power up, charge, or deliver electrical shock therapy, and could unexpectedly stop pacing.

Electronic health record information management is the top patient safety concern of 2017, according to a report released by the ECRI Institute on March 13.

CDC recommends hospitals clean rooms of patients with Candida auris daily and post-discharge with a disinfectant that is effective against C. diff.

The course runs March 20–24 in Atlanta and includes expert content on different infection or event types, as well as antibiotic stewardship.

Crew resource management, which focuses on situations prone to negative outcomes by human error, helped the Columbus, Ohio, essential hospital improve performance and generate savings.

The annual event encourages relevant stakeholders and the general public to engage in antibiotic stewardship in outpatient and inpatient settings.

Hospitals will have the opportunity to discuss the potential contamination of heater-cooler devices used during cardiopulmonary bypass procedures.

The FDA says the recalled electrodes might not connect properly to certain AEDs, delaying electrical therapy and potentially resulting in serious patient harm.

Stӧckert 3T heater-cooler devices used during cardiopulmonary bypass procedures might have been contaminated with M. Chimaera in the manufacturing process.

An archived recording of an Oct. 11 hospital quality call with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Food and Drug Administration is now available for members of America's Essential Hospitals.

The guidance outlines nine steps hospitals should take, focusing on identifying symptoms, educating patients, and reporting Zika cases to health agencies.

FDA said hospitals by now should have transitioned to alternative duodenoscope cleaning methods after a recall last year.

Funding will support work related to CDC Antibiotic Resistance Solutions Initiative, National Action Plan for Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria.

Agency will use measure to calculate the proportion of adult patients with active, concurrent prescriptions for opioids or for an opioid and benzodiazepine at discharge.

The funding was distributed as part of the Prevention Epicenters Program, which aims to develop and test new approaches to patient safety and infection prevention.

CDC has received multiple reports of Burkholderia cepacia (B. cepacia) infection clusters in pediatric intensive care units.

The HAC reports might have contained the incorrect hospital name in one table. CMS will distribute new reports to affected hospitals.

CDC's June Vital Signs finds that the number of U.S. residents with Legionnaires' disease and Pontiac fever increased 286 percent from 2000 to 2014.

To prevent spread, agency recommends personal protective equipment (PPE) for labor and delivery personnel and delays in conception, sexual activity for those with symptoms.

Guide gives providers best practices in fight against central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI), one of the most deadly health care-associated infections annually in the United States.

The CDC has organized two events for Patient Safety Awareness Week, March 13-19, and is releasing new patient safety–focused materials on its website.

New instructions are validated by the FDA to ensure they meet proper guidelines to avoid transmission of antibiotic resistant bacteria.

New journal article notes challenges remain since IOM published report, but also points out progress, including reducing CLABSI rates nationwide.

Like earlier report, new AHRQ data show that hospitals continued to reduce HAC rates by 17 percent in 2014.

Hospitals must establish and implement policies and procedures for managing alarms starting Jan. 1, 2016.

Benefits of coated, intravascular devices outweigh risks, but hospitals and other providers should remain vigilant and report adverse events, agency says

FDA cites violations of federal law that could result in an increased risk of infection transmission by company's equipment.

New report from ECRI Institute also lists failure to respond to clinical alarms, unsafe injection practices, and insufficient training among top hazards.

Report on National Strategy for Quality Improvement in Health Care details progress made toward better care, lower costs, and improved health.

Initiative seeks to strengthen healthcare-associated venous thromboembolism (VTE) prevention, raise awareness of successful strategies, and recognize investment in VTE prevention.

Hospitals should assess units to ensure they are safe and properly maintained and not contaminated with non-tuberculosis mycobacterium. Patients who may have been exposed to NTM should monitor signs of potential infection for several years.

International Infection Prevention Week, Oct. 18-24, raises awareness of patient and family engagement, hand hygiene in infection prevention and patient safety

Agencies say anecdotal reports of intentional nonreporting of infection data have prompted them to emphasize the importance of accurate reporting through strict adherence to NHSN definitions.

CDC and FDA remove language from guidelines that requires health care facilities to verify that vendors involved in maintaining, cleaning, disinfecting, and sterilizing reusable medical devices are certified by the manufacturer.

The CDC and FDA issued a health advisory alerting providers and facilities to properly maintain, clean, disinfect, and sterilize reusable medical devices. Noncompliance creates a gap in patient safety.

The CDC has added a tool to the NHSN that will rank hospital facilities and units by HAI rate so staff can see areas most in need of help.

Jacobi Medical Center implements multiple proven solutions and systemwide communication to reduce CAUTIs

Numerous essential hospitals were named to Hospitals & Health Networks magazine's list of 2014 most wired hospitals