Infection preventionists should now be familiar faces at all of the nation’s nursing homes following the final phase-in of Requirements of Participation rules from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
IPs should expect their responsibilities to grow as the industry continues grappling with
workforce issues.
Under the new rules, enacted in October, all nursing homes will be required to have at least a part-time onsite IP on board. Among their key responsibilities: mitigating infectious diseases through an effective infection prevention and control program that includes regular rounds, gathering and reporting data, conducting facility assessments, regularly updating needed resources and protocols, and staff training.
“One of the key lessons we have learned is that IPs need to have processes in place to monitor core infection prevention practices on a regular basis, even when there is no pandemic occurring,” said Kristi Felix, the infection prevention supervisor for Nebraska’s Madonna Rehabilitation Hospitals and its skilled nursing facility, St. Jane de Chantal Long Term Care.
Experts said many facilities may be able to draw from their own ranks initially to get their own IP program established.
“The IP doesn’t have to be a nurse, but they need to have a degree,” said Deborah Burdsall, PhD RN-BC, CIC, a consultant for the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology. “There are many different people who’d make great infection preventionists — even a few administrators with whom I’ve worked when I was an MDS coordinator.”
“The pandemic has created an increase in workload for IPs who couldn’t complete the basic requirements of their infection prevention programs prior to the pandemic,” Felix added.
Knowledge sharing could ease pressures. Another is ensuring both staff and residents are up-to-date on vaccinations, including the bivalent booster where appropriate.
Meanwhile, Burdsall encourages current and future IPs “to build an infection prevention program that’s a real program — and not just something that’s kept in a binder.”
From the December 2022 Issue of McKnight's Long-Term Care News
