Webinar symbols and meanings

Webinar:

BSIs and the NHSN: What Are We Learning?

This session will enable clinicians to gain practical insights regarding the CDC’s NHSN public reporting of BSI data and its role in improving performance and outcomes in your organization.

Frequently Asked Questions with Mary Andrus, RN, CIC, Surveillance Solutions

About an hour long

Speaker

Mary Andrus, BA, RN, CIC
Surveillance Solutions
Infection Prevention & Surveillance

Mary Andrus, BA, RN, CIC has been an infection control professional since 1991. She began her infection prevention career in Michigan, working first in a small acute care hospital and later in a freestanding rehabilitation facility. She moved to Georgia in 1998 and was the Director of Infection Control for the Northeast Georgia Health System until she was hired by Northrop Grumman to work as a contractor for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2002. Mary worked with the National Nosocomial Infections Surveillance (NNIS) system until 2005 when NNIS was replaced by the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN). She resigned her position with the CDC in December 2008 to form "Surveillance Solutions", a consulting company which conducts training workshops for infection control professionals who participate in NHSN.

While working with the CDC, Mary served as a subject matter expert on surveillance of healthcare-associated infections. She has authored several peer-reviewed articles in the American Journal of Infection Control as well as a chapter on surveillance in Bennett & Brachman's Hospital Infections text (5th edition, 2007). Mary has done presentations on NHSN throughout the U.S., as well as in Japan and France. She was honored with awards from the National Center for Infectious Diseases (CDC) in both 2006 and 2007 for her work with NHSN.

Mary is an active member of the Association for Professionals in Infection Prevention and Control (APIC), serving as local chapter president and board member and served two terms on the APIC national board of directors. She is currently serving a 3-year term on the national Nominating and Awards Committee and will be the Co-chair of that committee in 2009.

Session Learning Objectives and Content Highlights

1. Gain practical insights regarding the CDC's NHSN as a tool for public reporting of central line-associated BSI data and its role in measuring outcomes and improving performance in your organization.
2. Identify the usefulness and advantages of NHSN as a comparative tool for BSI rates. and its role in clinical practice.
3. Define the challenges and issues of this system and plans to address these.
4. Understand the lessons learned so far from NHSN that relate specifically to BSI and what is expected with continued use of the system.