Purchasing personnel have the goal of saving the hospital money , but over my 40 years , I ’ ve worked with them enough that they understand the big picture – if we prevent infections , that saves the hospital money .”
— Connie Cutler , RN , BSN , MS , CIC , FSHEA ,
FAPIC collegial relationships , which is important ,” Cutler said . “ They often can help you trial their technologies for free , which can be very beneficial to the institution ’ s bottom line . But the days of having the sales rep just knock on the door and say , ‘ Do you have 5 minutes to talk ,’ are gone . That used to happen frequently in my career , and if I could , I used to talk to them , but many times I would say , ‘ I would appreciate you making an appointment because this is not a good time .’ They had been in the facility to see somebody else and had thought while they ’ re there , they would stop and talk to the IP . But nowadays , that ’ s inappropriate . They need to make an appointment , and I need to find out if their product is even on our purchasing agreement before I visit with them , unless they have something so unique that it ’ s a one of a kind .”
Cutler added , “ Purchasing is also a good colleague to develop , if you haven ’ t already . Purchasing personnel have the goal of saving the hospital money , but over my 40 years , I ’ ve worked with them enough that they understand the big picture – if we prevent infections , that saves the hospital money . It used to be that everybody had their own little bucket of money and purchasing would say , ‘ Well , if you want to buy product X that costs more than product Y , then you must prove to me why this would make sense .’ And so , over the years I ’ ve worked with them , I share data internally about how bringing in that product has saved other hospitals money and that whole messaging is made much easier . Now , they understand that it ’ s not just their bucket of money , it ’ s the hospital ’ s bucket of money . And so , over the years it ’ s been a lot easier to bring in new products which will prevent infection .”
Cutler also discussed how the concerns of non-clinicians about infection-related matters can be best addressed , as well as reviewed communication guidelines for infection preventionists and external colleagues .
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Cindy Fronning , RN , GERO BC , IP BC , AS BC , RAC CT , CDONA , FACDONA , EFLA , CALN , director of education for NADONA , addressed the current state of long-term care infection prevention in her presentation , noting , “ When I think about what could be possible in the future , there is so much to look forward to . The role of the infection preventionist is one that ’ s really growing in long-term care , and with guidance that has changed for the infection preventionist program , there is more opportunity than ever before to prevent infections in long-term care settings .”
Fronning reviewed the past and pre-COVID aspects of long-term care , emphasizing that prior to 2017 , there hadn ’ t been as strong a focus on the role of the IP as there is now , due to new regulations effective Oct . 24 , 2022 requiring at least one person
The role of the infection preventionist is one that ’ s really growing in longterm care , and with guidance that has changed for the infection preventionist program , there is more opportunity than ever before to prevent infections in longterm care settings .” — Cindy Fronning , RN , GERO BC , IP BC , AS BC , RAC CT , CDONA , FACDONA , EFLA , CALN
being designated as an IP and tasked with infection prevention accountability in LTCFs . Fronning reviewed these new CMS requirements in detail , emphasizing that an infection prevention mindset will be required for future success , especially as facilities emerge from the pandemic having learned painful lessons that can be applied to practice today .
She encouraged long-term care facilities to examine their current infection rates , study the CMS regulations to stay in compliance , and to make a concerted effort to implement the requirements “ to ensure a safe and healthy future for all .”
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Carol Calabrese , RN , BS , T-CSCT , CHESP , CIC , emphasized that across the healthcare delivery continuum beyond acute care , infection prevention and control encompassed a number of “ constants ” that applied to all care settings , including ambulatory care , long-term care , dialysis centers , home healthcare , and others . These constants include knowledge of the chain of infection , hand hygiene , environmental cleaning and disinfection , safe injection practices , and many others . She examined the critical IP & C-related challenges in the non-acute setting ( s ) and shared recommendations for these settings . She addressed the lack of support for infection prevention and a dearth of administrative support for IP & C programs , as well as staffing issues , management of IP & C in ancillary settings , varying degrees of oversight , as well as the need for consistent antimicrobial stewardship in all clinical arenas .
Calabrese advocated for national and / or state standards for a required number of infection preventionist FTEs , as well as surveys beyond long-term care , dialysis , and home health , as well as consistency in training and certification , and the awareness that all physician offices , urgent care chains , pain clinics and other sites need to have designated IP & C programs and an active IP on site .
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In their presentation exploring the intersection between infection prevention , quality outcomes and