Nursing Students' Health Literacy and Strategies to Foster Patients' Health Literacy.

Health literacy can be defined as an individual's competence to use knowledge and information to maintain and improve health. Research has shown the crucial importance of health literacy in everyday life. Nurses play an important role in fostering patients' health literacy.

Point-of-use water filtration reduces endemic Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections on a surgical intensive care unit.

Background: Endemic infections because of Pseudomonas aeruginosa were observed on a surgical intensive care unit (ICU) for a period of >24 months. Tap water probing revealed persistent colonization of all ICU water taps with a single P aeruginosa clonotype.

Methods: Water outlets of the ICU were equipped with disposable point-of-use water filters, changed in weekly and, later, 2-week intervals.