Patricia Stone

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..System approaches, such as improving working conditions, have been advocated to improve patient safety. However, the independent effect of many working condition variables on patient outcomes is unknown...

..The methods employed and operational definitions used for both staffing and HAI varied; despite this variability, trends were apparent. Research characterizing effective staffing for infection control departments is needed...

..At the Expert Panel's request, a cost-of-illness study was conducted using available data sources. In Massachusetts, the excess hospital costs attributed to HAIs were estimated at approximately $233 to $275 million in 2006...

..The nature of infection prevention and control is changing; however, little is known about current staffing and structure of infection prevention and control programs...

..Further rigorous economic evaluations of specific interventions, as well as on evaluations of the policies, are required...

..Three of the 10 hospital-acquired conditions covered by the new CMS policy involve healthcare-associated infections, which are a common, expensive, and often preventable cause of inpatient morbidity and mortality...

..Additionally, dissemination and implementation are areas in which APIC members can utilize their unique talents to ensure that patients receive the most up-to-date and evidence-based infection prevention practices possible...

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..Many nurses desire 12-hour shifts. However, there are concerns about implementation...

..Understanding and improving nurses' working conditions can potentially decrease the incidence of many infectious diseases. Relevant research is reviewed, and policy options are discussed...

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..The results of cost-utility analyses have important implications for the development of clinical guidelines and resource allocation decisions. More trained investigators and better peer-review processes are needed...

..The objective of this study was conducted to assess the quality of economic evaluations related to HAI and synthesize the evidence...

..Standardization of climate measures will facilitate the ultimate goal of translating results into evidence-based management practices to improve the quality of care delivery...

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..To describe the development and psychometric testing of the Patient Safety Attitudes, Skills and Knowledge Scale (PS-ASK)...

..We focused on control measures that have a great potential to affect patient care, patient services, and hospital cost/resources: barrier precautions/patient isolation and surveillance cultures...

..To compare IRB processes in 68 U.S. hospitals for the same multicenter study...

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..A variety of methods of eliciting patient preferences by use of generic utility measures are described. Practical issues in the use of utility measures are discussed...

..We arrive at estimates of the ratios of the "within school" and "external source" transmission rates to the recovery rate and use these to obtain estimates for various quantities of interest...

..In addition, obtaining NNIS and Medicare data creates an opportunity to explore the sensitivity and specificity of identifying NI through claims data. ..

..Results will inform the practice of infection control professionals and bedside clinicians, allowing them to base their practices on current evidence, which should improve patient outcomes and reduce HAI rates. ..

..A long term goal of this program of research is to improve the quality of nursing services at the bedside by developing a generalizable framework for using queueing theory to inform nurse staffing needs across a variety of settings. ..

..Results will inform the practice of infection control professionals and bedside clinicians, allowing them to base their practices on current evidence, which should improve patient outcomes and reduce HAI rates. ..

..Most HAIs are preventable and it is a major public health problem. Results from this study will inform both clinicians and policy makers;these results also have the potential to improve processes at the bedside and reduce HAI rates. ..