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Insufficient Staffing Impacts Infection Prevention Outcomes Staffing Calculator Aims to Provide IPs a Better Tool With Which to Make a Business Case for Resourcing
By Kelly M . Pyrek
More than four decades ago , the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
( CDC )’ s Study on the Efficacy of Nosocomial Infection Control ( SENIC ) established a connection between elements of infection control programs and provided strong evidence that hospitals with more staffing and more intense infection control processes had lower rates of healthcare-associated infections ( HAIs ). The SENIC study suggested a staffing ratio of infection control professionals to inpatient beds , expressed as infection prevention full-time equivalents ( IP-FTEs ).
As one of the first comprehensive reviews of infection preventionist ( IP ) staffing , Weinstein , et al . ( 2008 ) observed that evidence to inform current practice was lacking , and that applying this outdated formula of one full-time infection control professional for every 250 occupied beds as the standard is untenable . As the researchers noted , “ Although this ratio may have been adequate many years ago , there have been many changes in healthcare delivery , such as shorter lengths of stay , increased patient acuity , and an increased risk of HAI , including HAI due to multidrug-resistant organisms . Although there have been reports that describe infection control staffing , no researchers have updated this study . The use of the outdated ratio may be contributing to the persistent
12 • www . healthcarehygienemagazine . com • november 2024