While infection prevention and control (IPC) has always been a crucial component of safe and excellent care in nursing homes, the COVID-19 pandemic has placed a new and far more discerning focus on how prepared skilled nursing facilities are to prevent and deal with outbreaks of infection. As a result of this governmental focus, nursing facilities are now required to have an LVN or RN serve as an Infection Preventionist on staff at least part-time and this nurse must have completed specialized IPC training like that provided by the CDC.
Whether this is a surprise to you or something you’ve been meaning to address, Century Rehab can help you acquire, or train an Infection Preventionist quickly and affordably to help protect your skilled nursing facilities.
If you don’t have anyone on staff to train for the position, our medical staffing consultants can find a qualified IPC specialist for you. If training is an option, our comprehensive training includes all areas of focus recommended by the CDC including effective methods to reduce pathogen transmission, healthcare-associated infections, and antibiotic resistance, plus a complete list of best practices for fighting infection in all areas of your facility.
When your nurses complete our IPC training program, they will be knowledgeable and skilled in the following areas of infection prevention and control:
- Development and review of a complete facility Infection Control Program
- Infection Preventionist Onboarding and Mentoring
- COVID-19 Assistance
- Nursing Documentation Review
- Proper Use of Personal Protective Equipment and Guidance
- Preparation for the Focused Infection Control Survey
- All Staff Training & Education
- Infection Surveillance / Risk Assessment
- Outbreaks
- Principals of Standard Precautions
- Principals of transmission-based Precautions
- Hand Hygiene
- Injection Safety
- Respiratory Hygiene and Cough Etiquette
- Indwelling Urinary Catheters
- Central Venous Catheters/Lines
- Infection Prevention During Wound Care
- Point of Care Blood Testing
- Reprocessing Reusable Resident Care Equipment
- Environmental Cleaning and Disinfecting
- Water Management Program
- Linen Management
- Preventing Respiratory Infection
- Tuberculosis Prevention
- Occupational Health for the Infection Control and Prevention Program
- Antibiotic Stewardship in Nursing Homes
- Infection Prevention and Antibiotic Stewardship Considerations During Care Transitions
- Infection Control Program Incorporated in Quality Assurance Performance Improvement (QAPI)
- Diagnosis of Infectious Diseases
While our general IPC training is comprehensive, some areas of care are clearly more crucial than others and of greater importance to the medical surveyors rating the preparation and compliance of your facility. To that end, in our training, we pay special attention to areas where common deficiencies are often noted in the Focused Survey including:
- F880 Infection Prevention and Control
- F881 Antibiotic Stewardship Program
- F882 Infection Preventionist Qualifications/Role
- F883 Influenza and Pneumococcal Immunizations
When you consider the age and health of the people we serve in skilled nursing facilities, it’s clear we have a professional and moral obligation to prevent and manage infection at an extremely high level. That level of safety takes planning, preparation, training, and constant attention. It also requires having the right staff in place and communicating that purpose to your entire team on a daily basis. When your staff has gaps in ability and training, a catastrophic infection can find its way in. But when everyone feels trained and confident in their ability to care for your patients, then, you can truly deliver the extraordinary care you’re committed to providing.
If you need assistance finding, or training staff to make your facility IPC compliant, contact our specialists at Century Rehabilitation and let us help you.
