Deb Burdsall has worked in long term care since 1974. She is board certified in infection prevention and control (CIC), and ANCC certified in gerontological nursing. Deb has a PhD in nursing from University of Iowa College of Nursing Deb has been working with congregate care in Illinois to support evidence-based, cost-effective infection prevention strategies for long term care. She is currently a board member for the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology.

 

Developing the Infection Preventionist Across the Healthcare Continuum: Promoting Competency and Advancing Practice

This session is designed to introduce the Infection Preventionist in all practice settings to the APIC Competency Model. The presentation will describe how attendees can advance from Novice to Expert and achieve certification based on work setting and long-term career goals. Competency domains included in each of the conference presentations will support just-in-time use of the model for professional development and progress toward certification or maintenance of certification.

At the conclusion of this training, participants will be able to:

• Describe the APIC Competency Model for the Infection Preventionist.
• Individualize a professional development path from Novice to Expert.
• Identify certifications applicable to work setting and career goals.

 

Changes and Challenges Implementing Enhanced Barrier Precautions: New Approaches

Enhanced Barrier Precautions is a type of Transmission Based Precaution developed specifically for skilled and intermediate nursing care. The goals of Enhanced Barrier Precautions (EBP) are to 1) Prevent the spread of multi drug-resistant organisms (MDROs) to protect residents from becoming colonized or infected , while 2) Maintaining residents’ ability to socialize and participate in activities outside their room. There have been challenges implementing this infection prevention strategy. This presentation will discuss the history of Enhanced Barrier Precautions, as well as some of the real life challenges with implementation. The current CDC guidance will be discussed along with some actual examples and pragmatic suggestions for person centered care.

At the conclusion of this training, participants will be able to:

• Describe the history of Enhanced Barrier Precautions, including the rationale behind this infection prevention strategy.
• Identify where Enhanced Barrier Precautions apply within the continuum of care
• Assemble an interdisciplinary team to develop performance improvement projects that will address the implementation of Enhanced Barrier Precautions