“ For IP & C professionals , understanding complexity and how systems interact with human behavior should be at the core of training . IP & C is essentially about codesigning systems , and that requires not just theory but also practical experience .” he emphasizes . “ I don ’ t see IP & C as a medical specialty ; it ’ s really part of providing good patient care to prevent unnecessary loss of productivity . As we saw in the paper , there are so many different areas of knowledge required for IP & C , and traditionally , people in the field have learned these through experience . Now , we need to raise the bar and aim for excellence . One option is to build interdisciplinary teams , but that ’ s not easy for every institution . Alternatively , we could consult experts as needed , but then you lose that internal understanding of IP & C . Maybe communications technology and better networking will offer some solutions .”
The aforementioned hard-skills / soft-skills dichotomy begs the question of what are the most desirable skills that infection preventionists need for the future , but most experts believe IP & C teams require a broader range of knowledge and skills than they hold today .
As one Crystal Ball Initiative survey participant noted , “ Soft skills will be extremely important . Human relationships , diplomacy , compromise , listening , team building capacity , leadership , showing gratefulness , etc .”
They added that leadership enabled with strong social and communication skills will be essential for the sustainable success of IP & C within healthcare systems . As one participant observed , “ Leadership development and an understanding of the value of developing strong and effective IP & C leaders , empowered to take IP & C where it needs to go and to get IP & C understood by those who need to understand it .”
The Crystal Ball Initiative survey respondents indicated that first-hand clinical experience ( nursing , medicine ), epidemiology , microbiology , data science , implementation and behavior science , leadership , project management , organizational management , and complexity science to communication and marketing skills , were essential to IP & C practice .
Sax , et al . ( 2024 ) emphasized that , “ IP & C teams — and even healthcare institutions — will be challenged to integrate all this expertise .” And as one survey participant put it bluntly , “ I think the infection prevention and control / hospital epidemiology field will need to rethink the skillsets needed on the team to optimize the success of programs .”
An interesting observation by a few of the Crystal Ball Initiative participants was that a strong emphasis should be placed on the presence of nurses and physicians in IP & C teams and that their presence should be as observers and coaches , face-to-face with care providers . They also said that the future patient will have a role in IP & C , will be educated and empowered as a healthcare consumer , and will be involved in co-creating the care processes and IP & C measures .
Suboptimal execution of IP & C measures was also addressed by survey participants , who largely concurred that behavioral aspects were considered key for the sustainability of quality improvement efforts . Techniques mentioned in this survey included role modeling , innovative education methods such as media-driven learning and virtual reality , nudging , implementation science , social media , monitoring and feedback , incentives and reprisal , and the facilitation of team science .
Regarding behavior change , by 2030 , bench-tobedside translation will be a central activity of IP & C teams , the Crystal Ball Initiative survey participants said , adding that they will use behavior-change instruments such as Plan-Do-Study-Act ( PDSA ) cycles for continuous system improvement more readily . Additionally , performance monitoring and feedback will be optimized , and research will have identified the most effective implementation frameworks .
Education and training are paramount , Sax believes , and shares what he thinks training programs should focus on for the future .
“ This really ties into the same challenges ,” he acknowledges . “ For IP & C professionals , understanding complexity and how systems interact with human behavior should be at the core of training . IP & C is essentially about co-designing systems , and that requires not just theory but also practical experience . Spending time in the wards and seeing how things really work is invaluable . For frontline healthcare professionals , the focus should be on integrating IP & C into care processes in a way that fits naturally with their work . We need to design systems that deliver the right information at the right time and continuously improve based on feedback from those at the front lines .”
Another interesting topic addressed by the Crystal Ball Initiative was the role of IP & C beyond the hospital . Some respondents foresaw that by 2030 , IP & C
For IP & C professionals , understanding complexity and how systems interact with human behavior should be at the core of training . IP & C is essentially about codesigning systems , and that requires not just theory but also practical experience . Spending time in the wards and seeing how things really work is invaluable .”
responsibilities and activities will have transcended today ’ s institutional boundaries .
As one survey respondent noted , “ IP & C has to move out of its comfort zone and get around the table with health systems and health security leaders – we need a serious voice – not others talking on our behalf . In every country of the world , we need IP & C leaders who could fulfill the roles of chief medical officer or chief nursing officer within ministries of health .” In an undesirable future , however , the heightened governmental interest in IP & C could become dominant and lead to over-regulation and poor adaptation of policies according to local needs . ( Sax , et al . 2024 )
Per the survey respondents , additional challenges to be tackled by IP & C by 2030 include climate change , human migration , emerging diseases , political influence , global health threats , lack of potable water , emerging technologies , and the slow uptake of modern IP & C in low-to-middle-income countries . Additionally , since financial constraints will have become even more relevant for healthcare institutions by 2030 , respondents say IP & C constitutes a driving force in cost-saving based on a more robust calculation of the costs imposed by HAIs and costs generated by prevention measures than is the case today .
18 • www . healthcarehygienemagazine . com • october 2024