Medline today announced a new partnership with Washington state skilled nursing provider Cashmere Post Acute, focused on enhancing the organization’s infection prevention strategy through Medline’s Post-Acute Care Infection Prevention Program. Through the new collaboration, Cashmere Post Acute, an 85-bed facility, is implementing a customized infection prevention program combining products and education to enhance best practices around hand hygiene compliance, an area of opportunity identified through Medline’s program discovery assessment.
“Infection prevention is not a one size fits all approach, and not all our staff learn the same way. Having Medline as a partner helps ensure that I have someone by my side, presenting educational resources that I would not have necessarily thought of. The activities are engaging for our staff and I feel like I’m not alone in this journey to enhance infection prevention best practices,” said Kat Murray, RN, infection preventionist for Cashmere Post Acute.
The Medline Post-Acute Care Infection Prevention Program has put tremendous focus on developing educational tools to guide facility leaders that Cashmere Post Acute is leveraging, including:
- Online education through Medline University, a platform offering 45 long-term care specific infection prevention courses with more than 30 continuing education credits.
- Quarterly clinical presentations for RNs, nursing assistants, environmental service staff, residents and facility volunteers.
- Train the trainer kits that include posters, videos, engaging activities and knowledge assessments aimed at helping staff retain concepts. As part of the train the trainer kit, Cashmere Post Acute is utilizing a unique card game designed to teach staff the essential moments for hand hygiene compliance. The cards outline different scenarios that clinicians experience while administering care, such as feeding a resident, transferring a resident from the bed to a chair, gathering wound care supplies, and cleaning rooms. The caregiver then identifies the correct hand hygiene product to use, detailed on the cards.
In addition to education, Cashmere has also invested in a system of products, including personal protective equipment and Medline’s Spectrum Advanced Hand Sanitizer, to support the facility’s best practices.
“We recognize that long-term care preventionists like Murray wear many hats within their organization. Our approach is to work alongside the Cashmere Post Acute team to implement customized initiatives that enhance staff engagement and create shared responsibility for driving long-term positive outcomes,” said Cristina Alvarez, marketing manager, Medline Post-Acute Care Infection Prevention Program.
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