As infection preventionists , we are influencers and engagers who try to get people to do things that they probably didn ’ t wanted to do in the first place , but get them so excited about it that they ’ re starting to think they came up with the idea in the first place .” — Barbara DeBaun ,
MSN , RN , CIC
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Barbara DeBaun , MSN , RN , CIC , addressed taking infection prevention practice to the next level , providing an inspirational examination of the IP & C profession .
“ So , does anybody ever say to you , ‘ What exactly do you do ?’ or ‘ What is an infection preventionist ?’ DeBaun asked during her presentation . “ I certainly get asked that question a lot , and three years ago when the pandemic reared its ugly head , I was certainly asked a lot about what I do . When you think about it , it ’ s important to be prepared as to how to answer that question . I would encourage you , if you haven ’ t done this recently , to take a good long hard look at your current job description . Does it accurately reflect what you do ? Does it elevate your position ? Do you have words like ‘ conduct surveillance ’ or ‘ performs hand hygiene audits ’? Or are you using elevated terms that are more about ‘ driving improvement on interpreting data ,’ for example ? It ’ s important for us as IPs to ensure our job descriptions tell the story of what we really do .”
DeBaun continued , “ I would encourage you to think about how to customize your ‘ elevator speech .’ This is a term we use a lot and what it means is if you get on the elevator and someone on that elevator asked you something that you had to explain in the short time it takes the elevator to reach its destination , would you be prepared to respond in a meaningful , memorable way ? You ’ ve got a name tag that says ‘ infection prevention ’ but people might be curious about what is it that you do . I would encourage you to think differently based on who ’ s asking the question ; is it a family member who ’ s there to visit a loved one ? Is it your system ’ s chief medical officer or maybe the chief financial officer ? Perhaps it could be another staff member ? Your response must be different based on who ’ s asking the question .”
DeBaun added , “ When asked ‘ what do you do as an infection preventionist ?’ one of my colleagues without even thinking about it blurted this out and I ’ ve never forgotten it . She said , ‘ Well , we try to get people to do things they don ’ t want to do and then get them to think it was their idea in the first place .’ She said it to be funny but when you think about it , that ’ s exactly what we do . As infection preventionists , we are influencers and engagers who try to get people to do things that they probably didn ’ t wanted to do in the first place , but get them so excited about it that they ’ re starting to think they came up with the idea in the first place . So , our goal as IPs is to be an effective influencer , to get others to care about the role of infection prevention , so that we can elevate our practice .”
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Janet Haas , CEO and principal consulting epidemiologist at Innovative Infection Prevention , addressed the roles of infection preventionist and healthcare epidemiologists within the context of challenges that they face daily . She reviewed the CMS requirements in its conditions of participation requiring a person designated as infection control officer to develop and implement policies , governing the control of infections .
“ When you think about our profession and what background we need , what entry-level training is required , and what is required for ongoing education and training , anybody who ’ s been in this field knows that this is quite a mishmash traditionally ,” Haas said . “ It ’ s been mostly nurses working as IPs , but that ’ s changed a lot in recent years , with people coming from many different backgrounds , such as MPHs or even microbiologists . There ’ s not a specific requirement for this , unless your state has requirements for you as a licensed professional in some cases , but there ’ s not one single standard certification . To me , the CMS description closely matches what most infection preventionists are doing , it matches the effect and impact they are having , describes our professional practice and standards for professional healthcare epidemiology programs .”
Haas continued , “ We have some work to do there , and IPs need a Department of Labor classification . By contrast , if you ask , what ’ s an epidemiologist , you can see that there is a Department of Labor definition that says an epidemiologist is a public health worker who investigates patterns and causes of disease and injury . Sounds a lot like what we do . So , I think that it is interesting because sometimes there is a bit of a push and pull between the epidemiologist role and the infection preventionist role .” Haas proceeded to explore the history of this duality , beginning with the results of the SENIC study from the 1970s .
Haas acknowledged that , “ In an ideal world , we would define the roles , responsibilities and requirements for infection preventionists and healthcare epidemiologists that would transcend politics and focus on leadership and skill sets .”
Haas recommended that IPs set and review their professional goals , revisiting them annually and whenever a big change occurs , as well as advised IPs to be honest with themselves about their desire and ability to continue or change course . She also recommended IPs assess their current work situation to ensure that it improves their chances of success within the organizational culture and organizational goals , as well as consider their professional growth trajectory .
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When you think about our profession and what background we need , what entry-level training is required , and what is required for ongoing education and training , anybody who ’ s been in this field knows that this is quite a mishmash traditionally .” — Janet Haas
In her presentation addressing the interactions of infection preventionists and non-clinicians , Connie Cutler , RN , BSN , MS , CIC , FSHEA , FAPIC , reviewed how infection prevention teams interact with non-clinicians in typical scenarios , such as during product evaluation and purchasing situations . She noted that the infection preventionist is often highly sought by company sales representatives , and that it can be a good opportunity to learn about products and technologies in the marketplace , but that parameters for interaction must be established . “ I ’ ve had very good working relationships with them over the years , creating