Developing valid test bank of surveillance case study scenarios for inter-rater reliability

Area of Science:

• Healthcare epidemiology
• Infection control and prevention
• Medical education and training

Background:

• National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) surveillance definitions are crucial for accurate healthcare-associated infection (HAI) tracking.
• Effective training is essential for infection preventionists (IPs) to correctly apply these complex definitions.
• Assessing the efficacy of training materials, such as case studies, is vital for ensuring competency.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of case studies in training infection preventionists (IPs) on National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) surveillance definitions.
• To identify specific assessment questions that best measure IPs' ability to apply HAI surveillance definitions.
• To refine training methodologies for improving HAI surveillance accuracy.

Main Methods:

• Case studies were developed based on NHSN HAI surveillance definitions.
• Item discrimination and item analysis statistical methods were applied to the case study questions.
• Analysis focused on identifying questions with high accuracy in assessing IPs' application of surveillance definitions.

Main Results:

• Case studies were found to be a viable tool for training on NHSN surveillance definitions.
• Item analysis successfully identified questions that differentiate between accurate and inaccurate application of definitions.
• Specific questions were highlighted as particularly effective in assessing IPs' understanding.

Conclusions:

• Case studies, when analyzed statistically, can effectively train and assess infection preventionists on HAI surveillance definitions.
• Item analysis provides a robust method for refining educational assessments in infection prevention.
• Improving the accuracy of surveillance definition application through targeted training enhances patient safety and public health data.