The hard work of infection prevention

It is Labor Day today in the U.S., which is meant to be “a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country”. In that spirit, we recognize those who are on the front lines of infection prevention every day. Performing hand hygiene a hundred times per ICU shift, tracking checklists for device placement and care, carefully disinfecting the high touch surfaces in a patient room, meticulously reviewing medical records for HAI surveillance, analyzing scores of agar plates to find HAI pathogens among commensal flora—these activities don't sound particularly exciting, but all are part of the daily grind of infection prevention and require dedicated nurses, housekeepers, infection preventionists and laboratorians. As much as we need to advance the science in our field, new-and-improved HAI prevention approaches won’t make a difference without the continued hard work and attention to detail of these talented professionals. Happy Labor Day!