Infection Preventionists demonstrate great care and compassion for patients and staff, and can have a direct impact on a hospital’s reputation and bottom line. However, their influence is lessened due to the current structure of their role, which has them focused on manual surveillance.
Here are 6 ways healthcare organization need to change their structure and processes to unlock the hidden potential of your IP, and make the move to proactive infection prevention.
- Move from reactive to proactive surveillance. IPs spend too much time on work (collecting data, manual surveillance, etc.) leaving little time for presence (education, outreach, etc.) and preventing HAIs.
- Stop expecting IPs to do more with less. IPs feel overwhelmed and underappreciated. They're struggling as their organizations expect them to do more with less.
- Change the culture at the top. Hospitals must include and engage staff, including IPs, in ideas for process improvements or new initiatives.
- Help IPs feel more engaged. Hospitals need to help IPs spend more time on the floor doing staff and patient engagement, just-in-time education, auditing and rounding.
- Invest in infection prevention to improve your hospital’s reputation & finances. Reducing HAIs is a priority for hospitals that want to distinguish themselves for quality and patient experience.
- Let IPs experiment. IPs can help leadership explore new initiatives with the appropriate resources. They can provide meaningful data, stats and trends that will minimize costs.
