Case Presentation: A 51‐year‐old man with a medical history of gastroesophageal reflux disease, herpetic whitlow, and nephrolithiasis presented to the emergency room (ER) with cough and headache after a zoanthoid coral from his home aquarium was cleaned. Hours prior to admission, he and a worker had soaked it and then used a pressure washer on […]

Background: Catheter associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI) are one of the most common hospital acquired infections and cost on average $13,793 per case according to the AHRQ. Many quality and safety organizations including the Society of Hospital Medicine recommend reducing the prevalence of indwelling urinary catheters (IUC) as a means to reduce the incidence of […]

Background: In March 2019, the CEO of our public teaching hospital set a goal for the institution to become a high reliability organization. At that time, the hospital’s rates of catheter associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs), central line associated blood stream infections (CLABSIs), and hospital acquired pressure injuries (HAPIs) were above the national average. Evaluation […]

Case Presentation: A 14‐month‐old boy was admitted with failure to thrive. He had 10–14 stools daily, occurring within 15 minutes of eating. He had pruritis. There were no recent fevers or vomiting. There was no history of jaundice, icterus, or meconium ileus. Medical history included solitary left kidney with mild hydronephrosis and poor weight gain. […]

Case Presentation: A 73‐year‐old woman presented for further evaluation of refractory delirium. Her medical history included a remote stroke, atrial fibrillation on chronic anticoagulation, and falls. She had also recently started memantine for mild memory impairment. Three weeks ago, she had been admitted to a local hospital with new confusion. She exhibited paranoid delusions about […]

Background: Catheter Associated Urinary Tract Infection (CAUTI) is the most common hospital acquired infection and constitutes upto 40% of all Healthcare Associated Infections. Urinary catheter is used in 15% to 25% of hospitalized patients and often utilized for inappropriate indications. Daily risk of Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) is 3 to 7% with the use of […]