2025
Fall 2025 -
Welcome to the fall issue of The Lowdown, an educational resource focused on promoting resident and healthcare worker health and safety. International Infection Prevention Week is being celebrated October 19–25. As infection prevention is everyone’s responsibility within a facility, this newsletter is dedicated to the ancillary departments that are important members of the infection prevention team! Happy reading!
Summer 2025 -
Welcome to the summer edition of The Lowdown. This latest issue focuses on outbreaks and some of their associated diseases. Long-term care facilities present unique challenges during an infectious disease outbreak. Resident risk factors, such as comorbidities, shared common spaces and equipment, and facility factors (e.g., staffing shortages or poor infection prevention practices) provide the opportunity for diseases to spread rapidly and cause an outbreak. This issue provides resources to assist you in preparing for an outbreak situation. Happy reading!
Spring 2025 -
Welcome to the spring edition of The Lowdown. Spring is a time of warmer temperatures, more daylight, and in- creased activity. Spring is also the time we recognize World Hand Hygiene Day and Hepatitis Awareness Month. It is also a good time to review and improve practices that may seem routine but are important. Happy reading!
Winter 2025 -
Welcome to the winter edition of The Lowdown, an educational resource for long-term care facilities. The new year always causes me to reflect on previous events and anticipate the upcoming year. This past year brought me in touch with many of you through the Long-Term Care (LTC) Infection Prevention Symposia meetings, facility outreach, and this newsletter. I look forward to continuing these relationships and developing new ones. Happy reading!
2024 ARCHIVE
Fall 2024 -
Welcome to the fall issue of The Lowdown, an educational resource focused on promoting resident and healthcare worker health and safety. This edition focuses on the importance of vaccination in preventing disease. Vaccine development and vaccination is considered one of the most important discoveries in medicine that has saved millions of lives! As healthcare workers and infection preventionists, we need to utilize this tool and educate others on its importance. Remember: It is much easier to prevent a disease than to treat it—or the infections that may result from it! Happy reading!
SUMMER 2024 -
Welcome to the latest edition of The Lowdown. On April 1, 2024, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) implemented enhanced barrier precautions (EBP) in nursing homes. EBP refers to an infection control intervention released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 2019 to prevent the spread of multidrug-resistant organisms in long- term care facilities. This issue reviews the effectiveness of EBP to break the chain of transmission. Happy reading!
SPRING 2024 -
Welcome to the spring edition of The Lowdown. This issue discusses some infection prevention “basics” that may be overlooked at times. But these basics are critical, as they are the building blocks of a strong infectio prevention program. Happy reading!
WINTER 2024 -
Welcome to the winter edition of The Lowdown. Infection prevention is a team sport, and everyone within a facility plays an important role. This edition focuses on support departments that are essential in breaking the chain of transmission to prevent the spread of infection. Happy reading!
2023 ARCHIVE
SUMMER 2023 -
Welcome to the summer edition of The Lowdown, an educational resource for long-term care. Summer brings the joy of picnics and time spent outdoors—along with ticks, mosquitos, parasites, and fungi. This edition focuses on diseases caused by these organisms and ways to help protect you and your residents. Happy reading!
SPRING 2023 -
Welcome to the fall issue of The Lowdown, an educational resource focused on promoting resident and healthcare worker health and safety. This edition focuses on the three respiratory threats this fall: respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), influenza (the flu), and COVID-19, as well as why it’s important to be vaccinated. Happy reading!
WINTER 2023 -
Welcome to the winter edition of The Lowdown, an educational resource focused on bringing you information to promote health and safety for residents and healthcare workers. This winter has brought the triple threat of respiratory viruses: influenza, COVID-19, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). This edition of The Lowdown provides information about these viruses, ways to prevent their spread, and resources to conduct staff education. Happy reading!
2022 ARCHIVE
Fall 2022 -
Welcome to the fall edition of The Lowdown, an educational resource for long-term care. This edition is dedicated to safety and provides information to help promote a safe, positive environment for you and your residents. Happy reading!
SUMMER 2022 -
Welcome to the summer edition of The Lowdown! The pandemic stressed people in several ways and brought to light the importance of communication and healthy interaction. This edition is dedicated to safety and provides resources to help promote a safe, positive environment for you and your residents. Happy reading!
SPRING 2022 -
Welcome to the spring edition of the Lowdown. Spring is a time of warmer temperatures, more daylight, and increased activity. It is also a good time to review and improve practices that may seem routine but are important. This issue of the Lowdown is focused on practices to keep you and your residents safe to enjoy the springtime. Happy reading!
WINTER 2021-22 -
Welcome to the latest issue of The Lowdown. COVID-19 has brought emergency preparedness to the forefront of medical care, but emergency preparedness is necessary for more than just infectious disease. How prepared is your facility for any emergency, internal or external? This issue is dedicated to emergency preparedness. Happy reading!
2021 ARCHIVE
FALL 2021 -
Welcome to the latest issue of The Lowdown. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released Enhanced Barrier Precautions (EBPs) in 2019 to prevent the spread of novel or targeted multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs) in long-term care facilities. This issue is a review of EBPs to break the chain of transmission. Happy reading!
SUMMER 2021 -
Welcome to the latest issue of The Lowdown. The Reduction and Prevention of Health Care-Associated Infection and Long-Term Care Nursing Facilities Act of 2007 (“Act 52”) requires long-term care facilities to report specific healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) to the Patient Safety Authority (PSA) and the Pennsylvania Department of Health (DOH) through the Pennsylvania Patient Safety Reporting System (PA-PSRS) using nationally recognized guidelines and definitions. This issue will clarify some common misconceptions concerning Act 52 and PA- PSRS reporting.
SPRING 2021 -
Welcome to the latest issue of The Lowdown. This issue is going “back to basics.” With so much focus on the pandemic and the frequently-changing infection prevention measures, it is easy to overlook the basic building blocks of a strong infection prevention program. Happy reading!
WINTER 2021-22 -
Welcome to the latest issue of The Lowdown. COVID-19 has brought emergency preparedness to the forefront of medical care, but emergency preparedness is necessary for more than just infectious disease. How prepared is your facility for any emergency, internal or external? This issue is dedicated to emergency preparedness. Happy reading!
2020 ARCHIVE
SUMMER/FALL 2020 -
Welcome to the latest issue of The Lowdown. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released Enhanced Barrier Precautions (EBPs) in 2019 to prevent the spread of novel or targeted multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs) in long-term care facilities. This issue is a review of EBPs to break the chain of transmission. Happy reading!
SPRING 2020 -
Welcome to the latest edition of The Lowdown. This issue provides you resources from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Pennsylvania Department of Health (PA-DOH) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to navigate the pandemic.
WINTER 2020 -
Welcome to the latest issue of The Lowdown. With influenza season, COVID-19, and all the talk of vaccination, I am dedicating this edition to vaccine basics: how they work, types of vaccines, and the impact vaccines have had on history. Remember, it is easier to prevent a disease than to treat it! Happy reading!
