Infection preventionists' job descriptions: do they reflect expanded roles and responsibilities?

Infection prevention staffing and resources in U.S. acute care hospitals: Results from the APIC MegaSurvey

BACKGROUND

Given the changing nature of infection prevention and control (IPC), appropriate infection preventionist (IP) staffing needs to be established. In this study, we aimed to describe current IP staffing levels and IPC department resources in U.S. acute care hospitals.

METHODS

These data came from the 2015 MegaSurvey conducted by the Association of Professionals in Infection Prevention and Epidemiology. Descriptive statistics and bivariate analyses were conducted to examine differences in respondent, facility, and department characteristics by facility size (average inpatient census ≤100 vs >100).

RESULTS

Data from 1623 respondents were included. Most (72%) had single-site responsibilities and dedicated 76%-100% of their job to IPC (68%). The overall median IP staffing was 1.25 IPs per 100 inpatient census (interquartile range = 1.81). Almost half (46%) represented facilities with daily inpatient census ≤100; the average number of IPs in these facilities was 1.1 (standard deviation = 0.7). The reported number of IPs increased steadily with higher patient census. Significant differences were observed in IP staffing, responsibilities, and support to the IPC department between smaller and larger hospitals.

CONCLUSIONS

This study represents the current snapshot of IP staffing and IPC resources in acute care hospitals. Findings indicate important differences between large and small facilities in staffing and IPC resources. The field of infection prevention would benefit from a comprehensive assessment of IPC department staffing and resource needs.

Infection prevention workforce: Potential benefits to educational diversity

BACKGROUND

Nurses have historically occupied the infection preventionist (IP) role. As the knowledge and skills needed to advance the field expand, professionals from public health and the laboratory sciences have become IPs. Our study describes the characteristics of current IPs and assesses for relationships between background, certification, experience, and type of work performed.

METHODS

The data were drawn from an existing dataset collected in the conduct of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) MegaSurvey. Descriptive statistics were computed. Associations were calculated using χ² or Cochran-Mantel-Haenszel tests. Characteristics of IPs were stratified by work-related activities to allow for comparisons between groups.

RESULTS

Of the 13,050 active APIC members, 4,079 participated in the survey (31% response rate). The primary job activity for nurses (97.9%; n = 2,434) was preventing and controlling the transmission of infectious agents or health care-associated infections, for laboratory scientists (97.5%; n = 307) it was the interpretation of surveillance data, and for public health professionals (96.1%; n = 136) it was management and communication: feedback.

CONCLUSIONS

Infection control departments would benefit from hiring IPs with diverse education and training to address the expanding roles and responsibilities of IPs. This may facilitate the implementation of novel and innovative processes that will impact patient care.

Understanding the current state of infection preventionists through competency, role, and activity self-assessment

BACKGROUND

The Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) MegaSurvey, administered in 2015, was completed by approximately 4,079 APIC members. The survey sought to gain a better understanding the current state of 4 components of infection prevention practice: demographic characteristics, compensation, organizational structure, and practice and competency.

METHODS

The data for this analysis come from the APIC MegaSurvey Practice and Competency domain. Descriptive statistics and χ² analyses were conducted to examine differences in infection preventionist (IP) competency, roles, and activity self-assessments.

RESULTS

The majority of IPs self-assessed their competency as Proficient compared with Novice or Expert for each of the 8 IP core competency activities. Forty percent of IPs self-rated their competency as Expert in the Preventing/Controlling the Transmission of Infectious Agents/HAIs component. IPs reported Novice competency in Employee/Occupational Health (29%); Cleaning, Sterilization, Disinfection, and Asepsis (23%); and Education and Research categories (22%). Differences in self-rated competency among IPs by discipline type (public health, nurse, and laboratory) were identified.

CONCLUSIONS

Differences in self-rated competency were identified for each of the 8 IP core competency activities. IPs report using various resource types to gain competency. Future research is needed to identify opportunities to increase competency levels in the weakest-rated competency activities.

The impact of human resource management practices on performance

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of human resource management (HRM) practices on organizational performance.

Design/methodology/approach

– A total of 300 employees from a public university comprising of both academicians and support staff responded to the survey. The survey questionnaire had 46 items covering selected HRM practices and university performance.

Findings

– The study has found that human resource practices: recruitment, training, performance appraisal, career planning, employee participation, job definition and compensation have a significant relationship with university performance.

Research limitations/implications

– The results come from a cross-sectional study which was done at the convenience of the researcher. The results may not be generalized across the country. The application of the results to other universities must be done with maximum care.

Practical implications

– If the university is to increase its performance to higher levels, it should emphasize more on job definition, training and employee participation. Some improvement needs to be done on the other HRM practices-recruitment, performance appraisal, career planning and compensation in order to increase their effectiveness on the university performance.

Originality/value

– Most studies on impact of HRM practices on firm performance have focussed on private sectors in Malaysia. In other countries, the studies have focussed only on academicians as a sample. This study has attempted to add to the body of knowledge on the impact of HRM practices on university performance in Malaysia combining both the academicians and administration staff.

Essential components of an infection prevention program for outpatient hemodialysis centers

Infections are a significant complication for dialysis patients. The CDC estimates that 37,000 central line-related bloodstream infections occurred in hemodialysis patients in 2008 and dialysis-associated outbreaks of hepatitis C continue to be reported. While established hospital-based infection prevention programs have existed since the 1970s, few dialysis facilities have an established in-center program, unless the dialysis facility is hospital-associated. This review focuses on essential core components required for an effective infection prevention program, extrapolating from acute-care programs and building on current dialysis guidelines and recommendations. An effective infection prevention program requires infrastructure, including leaders who place infection prevention as a top priority, active involvement from a multidisciplinary team, surveillance of outcomes and processes with feedback, staff and patient education, and consistent use of evidence-based practices. The program must be integrated into the existing Quality Assessment and Performance Improvement program. Best practice recommendations for the prevention of infection, specific to dialysis, continue to evolve as the epidemiology of dialysis-associated infections is further researched and new evidence is gathered. A review of case studies illustrates that with an effective program in place, infection prevention becomes part of the culture, reduces infection risk, and improves patient safety.