Background
Guidelines exist that recommend specific vaccines for health care personnel and supporting
documents provide guidance for program development and implementation, but the extent
to which those guidelines have been implemented in health care personnel immunization
programs has not been fully explored. This project aimed to evaluate current practices
in US health care facilities concerning health care personnel immunization programs.
Methods
A Web-based survey was deployed to 13,670 infection preventionists to assess 5 major
program areas: (1) immunization program management; (2) vaccines provided to health
care personnel; (3) vaccine handling practices; (4) training provided for the individual(s)
responsible for the program; and (5) quality indicators for the program. A scoring
scale was developed that demonstrated an overall measure of program performance.
Results
The Web-based survey resulted in 1,006 completed responses. When assessing overall
program performance, the median vaccine program score was 47.6%. Respondents certified
in infection prevention (CIC) scored significantly higher in overall program performance
than respondents not certified (54% vs, 43%, respectively, P = .003).
Conclusion
Results of the survey have identified a number of education and training opportunities
that can be addressed by professional associations using available evidence-based
and proven implementation materials as resource documents.
Key Words
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References
- Requirements for infrastructure and essential activities of infection control and epidemiology in hospitals: a consensus panel report. Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America.Am J Infect Control. 1998; 26: 47-60
- Requirements for infrastructure and essential activities of infection control and epidemiology in out-of hospital settings: a consensus panel report. Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America.Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol. 1999; 20 (695-705)
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CDC. Epidemiology and prevention of vaccine-preventable diseases. The Pink Book. 12th Edition (April 2011). 2011:1-42. Available from: http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/pinkbook/index.html. Accessed March 30, 2012.
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Article Info
Publication History
Published online: January 14, 2013
Footnotes
Supported by the US Department of Homeland Security, Science and Technology Directorate , through a technology development and deployment program managed by The National Institute For Hometown Security .
Conflicts of interest: None to report.
Identification
Copyright
© 2013 Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
