Emory launches Healthcare Test Kitchen Lab

Emory University in Atlanta recently launched a Healthcare Test Kitchen Lab to examine how pathogens spread in clinical settings and to inform infection prevention protocols. 

Jill Morgan, RN, site manager of the serious communicable diseases unit at Emory University Hospital, conceived the idea for the lab. Ms. Morgan became the first nurse in the U.S. to care for a patient with Ebola virus in 2014, when Emory admitted two healthcare workers who contracted the virus in Liberia. 

"Our patients who contracted Ebola virus disease were all healthcare workers themselves traveling in Africa and none of them knew exactly how they had gotten exposed. They trusted their protocols and processes, too. How do we know that we stayed safe because of what we did, instead of being lucky? That's when I decided that trust is not enough. I want to see the evidence," Ms. Morgan said in an Oct. 7 news release. 

In the Healthcare Test Kitchen Lab, researchers contaminate personal protective equipment and medical devices with bacteriophages, which are harmless to humans but mimic virus spread. By understanding how bacteriophages spread in clinical environments, researchers can better inform protocols for equipment cleaning, surface disinfection, hand hygiene and PPE usage. This knowledge will be applied across Emory's hospitals to prevent healthcare-associated infections and shared with the industry to help hospitals meet The Joint Commission's new accreditation requirement, which took effect July 1, 2024, that hospitals have a biocontainment plan for special pathogens with validated PPE donning and doffing procedures.

The lab's first project will focus on validating disinfection processes for biocontainment units. Future projects will assess infection risks related to nail length and polish type, potential bedside contamination from visitors or staff, and covered versus uncovered toilet flushing in patient restrooms, according to the release. 

"By understanding those topics, we can help reduce the infection risk to patients and ourselves, regardless of the pathogen type," Ms. Morgan said.

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