The message must come from the people who can influence healthcare personnel ’ s behavior , including leaders of healthcare facilities who allocate resources , but also other stakeholders , including regulatory groups that can say , ‘ I ’ m going to look at your IP & C program , but I ’ m also going to look at who leads that program , and are they appropriately educated and credentialed ?’” that requires you have an active infection prevention program , but that term can vary depending on the evaluator . If I ’ m a facility that reports all the HAIs that are in the Progress Report , I have an infection prevention committee , I have policies and procedures , and I am accredited by the Joint Commission , I can be considered to be completely ‘ active .’ However , counter that with a facility that does all that , but also has a broader scope for its IP & C program which examines all potentially infectious , acquired harms , is partnering on the units and rounding and feeding back the data , and ingraining daily these efforts into its institutional culture . That second IP & C program is also active , but arguably more effective . That ’ s not to say that the first facility ’ s IP & C program is not effective , but how do we raise the bar and really push everyone to do better ?”
Talbot continues , “ That message must come from the people who can influence healthcare personnel ’ s behavior , including leaders of healthcare facilities who allocate resources , but also other stakeholders , including regulatory groups that can say , ‘ I ’ m going to look at your IP & C program , but I ’ m also going to look at who leads that program , and are they appropriately educated and credentialed ? And if you ’ ve got an infection preventionist and a physician co-leading the program , are they appropriately ingrained in the institution where they are empowered enough to influence healthcare personnel ?’ Another question that could be asked is , ‘ Is the performance of your environmental services department also tied to IP & C outcomes ?’ And we ’ re not talking about just a rapid turn-around of a room , which may mean they don ’ t get cleaned as well , but how effectively a room is cleaned . We need those key partners to help leverage HAI prevention so that the facility can maintain as much of an active , highly effective program as possible . That ’ s the goal with this document that we are aiming to release in the next month or so to begin that kind of work .”
Yokoe says this whitepaper will have a significant impact on the critical topic of resourcing . “ It ’ s so very important to emphasize the benefits of having a well-resourced , effective infection prevention and control program and to make those benefits clear to stakeholders outside of the field of infection prevention , including hospital leadership and executives and others with whom our infection prevention and control teams interface ,” she says . “ The whitepaper addresses much broader impacts than just preventing those major categories of HAIs from the Progress Report ; although preventing those HAIs is critically important , the work of infection preventionists and healthcare epidemiologists impact so many other areas related to patient and healthcare personnel safety that are essential for providing a safe healthcare environment .”
Yokoe continues , “ We need to emphasize the critical importance of the work that we do , especially when we ’ re in an environment like we are now , where many healthcare facilities are still struggling financially . Financial impacts resulting from the pandemic and other healthcare economic pressures have created significant challenges for healthcare executives who are having to make tough decisions about how to allocate precious resources and staffing . This makes it even more important and challenging for us to advocate for the resources that our IP & C programs need to remain viable and effective in addressing other infectious harms , introducing efficiencies , reducing waste , and meeting all standards among others .”
While this may seem like a tall order for IPs who are already stretched thin , Talbot reassures by emphasizing that the message of the forthcoming whitepaper is
We need to emphasize the critical importance of the work that we do , especially when we ’ re in an environment like we are now , where many healthcare facilities are still struggling financially . Financial impacts resulting from the pandemic and other healthcare economic pressures have created significant challenges for healthcare executives who are having to make tough decisions about how to allocate precious resources and staffing .”
that they are not alone in the quest for improvement , and that all healthcare stakeholders must heed the need for better support for IP & C programs .
“ These endeavors that are promulgated in the forthcoming whitepaper will take time to execute ,” Talbot says . “ We need patience to ensure that resourcing is built correctly , but also to ensure that things are moving along as they should . So , it ’ s not intended that when this whitepaper is released goes that IP & C teams alone have to start doing all this work without proper resourcing and support . We will call on everyone in healthcare to understand that this is an expectation that we all must move toward without exception . Granted , there may be some facilities that are further along on the resourcing spectrum than others , but we need patience to do this well and to do right by our patients and have our staff dedicated to these goals . We ’ d love to have very specific goals and timing ; for example , to be able to say that ‘ this or that should be done within the next three months , six months and nine months ,’ but we can ’ t be that prescriptive . Every healthcare facility is different , and some things may be easy to attain quickly for some and very difficult for others . So , we must have that flexibility , and programs must be malleable as we continue to push forward with our objectives so that we will get to a point , not 10 years from now , but definitely not four months from now , where we ’ re all effective and achieving our goals . I think it ’ s Important for IP & C teams to know it ’ s not the expectation that they jump right in and start doing all this right away without the support and resources they need .”
Yokoe acknowledges the work that IPs are already undertaking , and that the principles and practices in the forthcoming whitepaper aren ’ t too far beyond what many are already doing .
14 • www . healthcarehygienemagazine . com • jan-feb 2025