Clostridium difficile is an inimitable bug that normally lives in the gut. When an antibiotic is taken to treat an infection, helpful or normal bacteria are destroyed, causing an overgrowth of the C. difficile bacteria. Clostridium difficile localizes to the large bowel, where it manifests as diarrhea and colitis. The symptoms of CDI can be mild or life-threatening.  

How does your facility prevent patients from getting a CDI during their stay?  In this 90-minute streaming webinar, Infection Prevention Consultant Leah Frederick will discuss the characteristics and transmission of CDI, monitoring these infections, and recommended practices for prevention and control.  

Learning Objectives:

• Discuss 2 features of the microorganism Clostridium difficile which make transmission difficult to control in the healthcare setting
• List the elements of a program to recognize and prevent CDI and transmission in the healthcare setting
• Discuss the importance of hand hygiene and environmental cleaning in prevention of transmission of Clostridium difficile
• Describe resources for controlling CDI in the healthcare setting

Target Audience:

• Infection preventionist
• Infection control committee members
• All nurses
• All nursing supervisors and department directors
• Chief nursing officer
• Nurse educator
• Joint Commission coordinator
• Performance improvement director
• Chief medical officer
• ASC staff
• Compliance officer
• Regulatory compliance director
• Anyone involved with surgical procedures

Level: All levels 

Meet Your Expert: 

Leah Frederick owns the consulting firm Infection Prevention Consultants, LLC providing infection prevention mentorship and program development services to for-profit and not-for-profit healthcare providers nationwide. Prior to this, she was Corporate Infection Prevention Officer for MedCath, Inc. and co-owned the consulting firm Infection Control Consultants providing consultation on Infection Prevention and Control.  Leah has successfully developed Infection Prevention and Control Programs for new hospitals, and led organizations in improving existing programs.  She specializes in leading organizations to decrease and prevent healthcare-acquired infections and providing the most up-to-date information on regulatory compliance.  She has been active and has held office in numerous professional associations which include the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC), Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA), and Sigma Theta Tau. 

Ms. Frederick holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing and holds a Master of Science Degree in Community Health from Arizona State University.  She is currently certified in Infection Control by the Certification Board of Infection Control (CBIC), and has been certified for more than 20 years.  

Accreditation Statement:

AHC Media is accredited as a provider of continuing nursing education by the American Nurses Credentialing Center's Commission on Accreditation.

Credit Designation:

This activity has been approved for 1.5 nursing contact hours using a 60-minute contact hour.Provider approved by the California Board of Registered Nursing, Provider # 14749, for 1.5 Contact Hours.

Sponsor:

The sponsor of this educational activity is AHC Media.

Refund Policy:

If you are not able to attend for any reason, please notify us as soon as possible. Webinar cancellations received prior to the start time of the webinar are fully refundable. If you prefer, you may substitute an upcoming webinar for the one you originally registered for.

Recorded: Thursday, March 22, 2012