Infection Prevention in the Acute Rehabilitation Setting

Patients at Shepherd Center are at risk of infection for a few important reasons. The risk goes up the longer a person is in a facility, and Shepherd’s average inpatient is in the hospital for more than six weeks. Because Shepherd Center is a rehabilitation facility, patients are very mobile throughout the hospital, which sacrifices some infection protection afforded by having them stay put in their rooms. Also, a high proportion of Shepherd patients use medical devices that add the risk of infection; these include certain kinds of IVs, tracheostomies and urinary catheters.Listen in as Sarah Culberson, RN, discusses how Shepherd Center is working to decrease the risks of infection to patients.