How can you ensure your infection control policies are effective?

Talking about policies. Since COVID-19 most facilities have updated their ICP policies however, very few tools exist to support Nursing Directors and Nurse Leaders in evaluating policies and practices to identify gaps for improvement. I recommend to work with your clinical leadership to identify gaps through benchmarking, training evaluation, risk assessment tools and finally through random audits and inspections.

Provide ongoing, up-to-date training for all healthcare workers.Conduct routine audits to assess compliance with policies.Track infection rates and trends. Review policies periodically or as needed and encourage staff and patient feedback to identify gaps.

Hospital services should consider the need to review how well the infection control team and the other hospital departments are working together to ensure compliance with policies. Infection control teams should be involved in the design and conduct of clinical audits (as members of the audit team or indirectly through consultation or discussion) to ensure that such audits have regard to infection control risks associated with clinical facilities and processes, and to identify opportunities for improvement in infection control practices arising from audit findings.

Infection control policies will be effective when it become patient centred and taking him as a desk partner in the decision making of shaping his healthcare

I believe Implementing below mentioned measures below will help ensure that your IC policies are effective and continuously improved to provide a safe environment for all Conduct regular audits. Perform ICRA Provide ongoing education and training for all staff. Estblsh a robust infection surveillance systm.Regularly review and update infection control policies to align with current guidelines from WHO ,CDC , JCI, and other relevant bodies. Environmental cleaning assesses the effectiveness.Involve a multidisciplinary team, reviews infection data, identifies areas for improvement, and takes corrective actions.conduct HH programmes Benchmark IC performance against similar hosp.Adopt best practices from other hospitals and relevant guidelines.

Utilizing indicators such as infection rates, adverse events, staff training, or patient satisfaction to measure your outcomes is an effective way of guaging team knowledge and compliance.

Once updated, the policy must be based on evidence-based practice, current practice guidelines/protocol, and regulatory compliance. Timely review is essential and ensures that the policy guides practice. Then, the positive outcome metrics or measures around infection prevention speak it all.

CMS is always putting out great information however, do to the complexity of materials, this valuable information is not always utilized. When training staff, be short and concise while addressing the real issues. Soliciting feedback, gamification, role play has always worked well for our team.

It is important to have allocated time to train and educate the staff. One thing, I have found useful is deciding on the frequency of regular updates and scheduling in well advance in the calendar year. There should also be flexibility to add the additional ad-hoc training as needed.

Communication and collaboration is key to the success of any organization. My team utilizes the Institute of Post-Acute's learning management system to assure timely and effective education while assessing competencies. Additional information about the platform can be obtained by reaching out to [email protected].

Continually educate staff,all staff must:Understand the impact of IPC practice,Be aware of policies and procedures,Attend mandatory training sessions,it should cover: Hand hygiene,The use of PPE.The safe use and disposal of sharps Safe handling clinical waste,Decontamination of equipment and safe management of linen. Set clear processes and policies. Create a cleanliness culture,Leadership must champion cleanliness at every level to ensure all staff follow practice at all times.Hold regular audits to ensure best practice is being implemented.

I have always engaged the resident council group to participate with policy development and revision. You will be surprised at how much these individuals know. Through encouragement and empowermet, they have shaped a lot of the programs developed at many facilities where I have worked.

Staff feedback is key in evaluating and improving the organisation's policy. There should be a system in place where the staff can feedback their concerns, incidents, feedback or suggestions without the fear of any retribution.

Implementation of infection control policies needs to be part of a broader integrated management system. This may include internal (1st party) audits, second party audits and third party audits. Additionally, the implementation of continuous improvement methodologies such as Six Sigma or Kaizen offer an opportunity to create measurable improvements to performance. There is also a place for implementation of no blame opportunities for improvement of non-conforming work outputs. Identification and reporting of non-compliance should be encouraged. Remember 99% compliance is non-compliance.

Health sector is continually evolving. We are now moving on from the stage of employee empowerment - that has successfully been implemented - to patient empowerment. The step of patient education, and empowerment is all encompassing where infection control practices are concerned. Educating the patients and family is most effective in a wholesome infection prevention perspective, because it ensures good practices even at homes, workplaces, public spaces and thereby the community.

When I started implementing strict infection control protocols at my organization, the staff were challenged with adherence however regular staff training, proper use of personal protective equipment, and routine disinfection measures resulted in a significant decrease in the incidence of respiratory and gastrointestinal infections among the residents. This example emphasizes the importance of tailored infection prevention strategies for your staff.

In countries like United Kingdom, where the health organisations are of different size and shape, there should be central NHS infection control policy team to support smaller organisations like General Practices.