Closing the gap on infection prevention staffing recommendations: Results from the beta version of the APIC staffing calculator

Rebecca Crapanzano-Sigafoos, DrPH, MPH, CIC, FAPIC Sara Reese PhD, MPH, CIC, FAPIC and Alexandr Gumbar SA, CSM, MCSE.

Infection Prevention and Control is increasingly becoming a vital field of research and execution since recent pandemics that the world has experienced. RBN Meditech Pvt. Ltd. has always been striving to be ahead and act as a catalyst to help the healthcare community grow aware and spread education amongst ourselves. This literature from The American Journal of Infection Control will help the Hospitals, Clinics and allied setups regarding advances in IPC Staffing recommendations.

Objective: This project’s objective was to create and validate a calculator utilising risk and complexity factors to generate individualised Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) staffing ratios. The literature suggests that "one size fits all" IPC staffing recommendations are not sufficient for all types of Healthcare Setups.

Methods: An online survey-based calculator was created that incorporated factors intended to predict staffing needs and multiple investigative questions to allow for optimisation of factors in the algorithm. Hospital characteristics, staffing ratios, staffing perception, and outcomes were analysed to determine the optimal questions and benchmarks for future releases.

Results: The median infection preventionist full-time equivalent to bed ratio was 121.0 beds for 390 participating hospitals. The calculator deemed 79.2% of respondent staffing as below expected. Significant association existed between higher standard infection ratio ranges and staffing status for central line-associated bloodstream infection (P = .02), catheter-associated urinary tract infections (P = .001), Clostridioides difficile infections (P = .003), and colon surgical site infections (P = .0001).

Conclusions: This novel approach allows facilities to staff their IPC program based on individual factors. Future versions of the calculator will be optimized based on the findings. Future research will clarify the impact of staffing on patient outcomes and staff retention.

For detailed article please refer to American Journal of Infection Control 52 (2024) 1345 - 1350.