Date of Graduation
Fall 12-15-2023
Document Type
Project
Degree Name
Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)
College/School
School of Nursing and Health Professions
Department/Program
Nursing
Program
Population Health Leadership
First Advisor
Dr. Francine Serafin-Dickson
Second Advisor
Dr. Dina Silverthorne
Abstract
Developing and Implementing an Infection Prevention Practice Fellowship Program
Abstract
Background: The COVID-19 pandemic placed huge demands on infection prevention programs (Blanchard et al., 2022), seriously taxing a profession already mired with progressively increasing workload and responsibilities (Bryant et al., 2016).
Local Problem: In a rapidly changing environment, infection preventionists (IPs) contend with pandemic surges, emerging infections, and supply chain disruptions. The NCAL Region of an integrated health system experienced IP turnover, and in the absence of a formal training program, newly hired IPs experienced variable to no opportunities to develop their competencies.
Methods: A literature review on infection prevention training programs identified the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology’s (APIC) accelerated internship program guide and the evidence-based Certification Board of Infection Control’s (CBIC) core competencies as the premise for training and competency development.
Interventions: The DNP student, a clinical practice consultant for infection prevention in the regional corporate office, developed and implemented a 20-week Infection Prevention Practice Fellowship (IPPF) Program to train its new IPs.
Results: The three IP fellows that enrolled in the IPPF program demonstrated a 40% overall improvement from baseline in all the eight CBIC competency areas at the end of the program.
Conclusion: The IPPF program successfully trained new IPs in the first cohort. Results demonstrated that this project is scalable and cost-effective. The fellowship model can be used as a framework for future IP training across this integrated health system and other inpatient settings.
Recommended Citation
Naik, Sejal, "Developing and Implementing an Infection Prevention Practice Fellowship Program" (2023). Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Projects. 350.
https://repository.usfca.edu/dnp/350
