There is still little known about how infection prevention (IP) staffing affects patient
outcomes across the country. Current evaluations mainly focus on the ratio of IP resources
to acute care beds (ACBs) and have not strongly correlated with patient outcomes.
The scope of IP and the role of the infection preventionist in health care have expanded
and changed dramatically since the Study on the Efficacy of Nosocomial Infection Control
(SENIC Project) recommended a 1 IP resource to 250 ACB ration in the 1980s. Without
a universally accepted model for accounting for additional IP responsibilities, it
is difficult to truly assess IP staffing needs. A previously suggested alternative
staffing model was applied to acute care hospitals in our organization to determine
its utility.
Key Words
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References
- The efficacy of infection surveillance and control programs in preventing nosocomial infection in US hospitals.Am J Epidemiol. 1985; 121: 182-205
- Staffing requirements for infection control programs in US health care facilities: Delphi project.Am J Infect Control. 2002; 30: 321-333
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: December 03, 2014
Footnotes
Conflicts of interest: None to report.
Identification
Copyright
© 2015 Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
