Advancing the competency of infection preventionists

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Quality Improvement
• Infection Prevention and Control
• Professional Competency Assessment

Background:

• The Association of Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) prioritizes enhancing infection prevention competency.
• APIC developed a self-assessment tool to guide infection preventionists in evaluating their skills.
• Healthcare systems seek validated methods to measure and improve staff competency.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the utility of the APIC self-assessment tool in identifying areas for improvement.
• To compare the APIC tool with an internally developed objective assessment.
• To determine if these tools can advance group competency among infection preventionists at BJC HealthCare.

Main Methods:

• A project was conducted at BJC HealthCare, a large Midwestern healthcare system.
• The APIC self-assessment tool was trialed among nearly 30 infection preventionists.
• An internally developed objective assessment was used in parallel with the APIC tool.

Main Results:

• The study aimed to determine if the combined tools effectively identified specific areas needing improvement.
• The assessments were intended to provide a baseline for enhancing overall group competency.
• Data from the trial would inform strategies for professional development.

Conclusions:

• The trial sought to validate the effectiveness of APIC's self-assessment tool in a real-world healthcare setting.
• Findings are expected to guide future competency development initiatives for infection preventionists.
• The project aimed to contribute to advancing infection prevention standards within the healthcare system.