Mold discovery puts surgeries on hold at Sonoma West Medical Center. "We currently have no way to sterilize equipment," the interim CEO said after health officials confirmed the presence of mold in a sterilization sink.

CDC issues first SSI-prevention update in 18 years. New recommendations address pre-op bathing, prepping, patient warming, antimicrobials and more.

Hospital, laundry service fighting allegations related to 7 patient deaths. Hospital investigators and CDC appear to be at odds over the most likely source of the infections.

Inside our journey to zero SSIs. It took evidence-based practices and hard work to eliminate infections.

Get buy-in for bundles to reduce infection risks. Q&A with Chad Buhs, MD, surgeon champion of SSI prevention.

Kryptonite for superbugs. 3 surefire ways to strengthen your infection prevention protocols to neutralize antimicrobial-resistant bacteria.

Lessons in Lumened instrument cleaning. Follow these tips to ensure reprocessing's critical first step is performed correctly each and every time.

Make no mistake: Prepping the skin takes time. How to convince your surgeons and staff that a proper skin prep can't be rushed.

5 burning questions about patient warming. Separating fact from fiction on ways to prevent hypothermia and lower infection risks.

6 rules for rigid sterilization container use. Practical steps to ensure the barrier between impurities and your instruments remains strong.

Souped-up surface cleaning. Whole-room disinfection solutions and fine-tuned manual scrubbing will eradicate infection-causing microorganisms.

The lowdown on low-temp sterilization. Maximize your use of alternatives to the autoclave to reprocess heat-sensitive devices and flexible endoscopes.

Infection prevention: 3 surgical attire battles worth fighting for. Breaks in these safe attire practices could harm patients.

Endoscope reprocessing gone wrong. Recent outbreaks shine light on the dirty truth about the scope cleaning practices at facilities across the country.

Is that scope clean? No guarantees. Even rigorous by-the-book cleaning doesn't ensure that your flexible endoscopes will be free of bacteria and bioburden when you hang them to dry.

Hand hygiene for tour nose. Nasal decolonization gave our existing infection control protocols a boost -- without using antibiotics.

Redesign & reinvent your reprocessing room. The central sterile department at St. Cloud Hospital is a high-tech, staff-friendly wonder.

Sprays and wipes could degrade plastics over time. The repeated use of "incompatible" cleaning products could be harming medical devices.

Thinking of Buying ... Whole-room disinfection systems? Automated units reach the surfaces that manual cleaning misses.

Infection prevention: The quest for competent sterile processors. It's a dirty job, but it's got to be done right. Here's how you can help.