Infection Preventionist Boot Camp, essentials for the beginner infection preventionist

by Peggy Luebbert, MS, MT(ASCP), CIC, CHSP and Ron Stoker, MS

In last month’s article we started the discussion about the myriad of resources that are available for infection preventionists. This month we will continue with additional resources that can assist you in understanding and performing the important job of infection prevention.

Important Books

We believe that there are three main books that can be used to help in understanding infectious diseases, along with the bugs that cause them. The first is what I call my “Bug Bible.” The Control of Communicable Diseases Manual is published by the American Public Health Association on a regular basis. It is available just about everywhere including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, university bookstores and other similar sources. It sells for around $25. This is such an important book that I have a copy of it in my car, home office, work office and everywhere in between. It offers a wealth of concise information for every infection you can imagine. I don’t remember ever looking one up in the “Bug Bible” and not finding it!

Another great resource is A Clinician’s Dictionary of Pathogenic Microorganisms. This excellent resource is written by James H. Jorgenson and Michael A. Pfaller. This is another great book that is regularly updated to give basic information concerning common organisms that are pathogenic. Some people call this one their “Bug Bible.”

A third resource book is Ready Reference to Microbes which is produced by the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC). This book is perfect for everyone from students to healthcare professionals. This resource lists the clinically relevant microorganisms by major group, their descriptions, related infections, modes of transmission, and methods of presentation. The book covers bacteria, fungi, parasites, viruses and prions. It also includes agents of bioterrorism. This is an excellent resource.

There are also several great books that help in understanding antibiotics. I am sure that many of you would recognize the first one—the  Nursing Drug Handbook. Also, many infection preventionists like the antibiotic book from the series of books on basics for clinicians. It is entitled Antibiotic Basics for Clinicians. In addition, the Sanford Guide is a tiny little book that will fit into your pocket. Great resource—perhaps the only bad side of this book is that the writing is very small and if you are like us you will need bifocals to read it!

If you work with pediatric patients the Red Book® published by the American Academy of Pediatrics is a must on your resource shelf. It notes more than 200 childhood infectious illnesses between its covers with excellent descriptions of the manifestations, etiology, epidemiology, diagnosis and treatment of these illnesses.

To make sure that we have all the colors covered in our recommendations, the Pink Book (Epidemiology and Prevention of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases) is an important resource for all public health and healthcare professionals who provide immunizations. It is distributed in partnership with the Public Health Foundation, the recently updated 10th Edition (2nd Printing) contains information on:

• Principles of Vaccination;
• General Recommendations on Immunization;
•  Immunization Strategies for Healthcare Practices and Providers;
•  Vaccine Safety  Vaccine Schedules and Recommendations;
•  Vaccine Storage and Handling;
•  Vaccine Administration.

There is one more book that we feel very strongly about recommending to you for your edification. It is called Leave No One Behind: Hurricane Katrina and the Rescue of Tulane Hospital and is written by Bill Carey. Leave No One Behind is the story of how one hospital managed caring for their patients after Hurricane Katrina. It is a must-read for new infection preventionists to help them understand the infection prevention issues associated with such a major natural disaster. It describes how these wonderful clinicians weathered the storm, stayed open as long as they could, and then evacuated and then reopened. Peggy started reading this book on a long airline flight and actually sat in her home town airport to finish it. Not too many books get that attention from us anymore!

The book is fascinating reading and talks about how both patients and healthcare workers are trapped by good old mother nature. It reviews how the governmental entities that were expected to provide help were unable to do so, and were nowhere to be seen. It tells a story about how the patients and healthcare workers were saved by a for-profit organization. This book is what the author calls “the inside story of the largest corporately funded rescue in American history.”

This great read tells the story with gusto about how corporate America does care for its employees and customers. Carey’s inspiring tale of how the staff of Tulane Medical Center and their corporate partner, HCA, were able to do what FEMA, the State of Louisiana, and the city of New Orleans could not—save 178 patients and more than 1,000 workers and their dependants from the flooded city. This is one book that we highly recommend to you.

Web-based Resources

There are a variety of Web-based companies that supply great educational materials. Some of these resources are available at no charge and others are available for a fee. Let’s talk about a couple of the most common resources.

Google Alerts are email updates of the latest relevant Google results (Web, news, etc.) based on your choice of query or topic. We frequently use them to help us monitor the topics that are most important to us. We receive these alerts on a daily basis where we have an opportunity of monitoring a developing news story, keeping current on our industry, getting the latest and information on breaking news. Google alerts is a great resource tool to keep you engaged and on the cutting edge of what is happening in your infection preventionist world.

HCPro is a wonderful organization (http://www.hcpro.com/infection-control) that provides E-newsletters, blogs, webcasts, advisors and other products. With more than 20 years of experience, HCPro Inc. (www.hcpro.com), is a leading provider of integrated information, education, training, and consulting products and services in the vital areas of healthcare regulation and compliance. The company’s mission is to meet the specialized informational, advisory, and educational needs of the healthcare industry.

Emergency Preparedness Resources

There are a number of resources for emergency preparedness that can be found on the Internet. Here are a few that will assist you.

Healthcare Alert Network

When an event threatens the health of Minnesotans, fast, efficient and reliable communication to those responding to the event can prevent illness and save lives. Minnesota’s Health Alert Network (HAN) (www.health.state.mn.us/han/index.html) enables public health staff, tribal governments, healthcare providers, emergency workers, and others working to protect the public to exchange information during a disease outbreak, environmental threat, natural disaster, or act of terrorism. This is a great resource to assist during these local, nationwide or global disasters.

Center for Preparedness Education

In 2002, in response to Federal and State initiatives to establish and improve the public health system’s response to biological events, Nebraska Health and Human Services commissioned the state’s two medical schools—Creighton University School of Medicine and University of Nebraska Medical Center—to join forces to form the Center for Preparedness Education (www.preped.org), which is under the direction of the chiefs of the Infectious Disease Departments at both medical centers and a multi agency consortium.

Clinician Outreach Communication Activity

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also has a nice mechanism to educate clinicians quickly during disasters or outbreaks. The CDC Emergency Communication System’s Clinician Communication Team manages the Clinician Outreach Communication Activity (COCA) (www.bt.cdc.gov/coca/) to ensure that clinicians have the up-to-date information they need. COCA is designed to provide two-way communication between clinicians and the CDC about emerging health threats, such as pandemics, natural disasters and terrorism.

COCA operates in order to:

• Help clinicians provide the best possible care to patients by supplying them with the most current and reliable information.
• Disseminate evidence-based health information and public health emergency messages to clinicians.
• Provide and promote emergency preparedness and response training opportunities.
• Obtain feedback from healthcare provider audiences to help improve emergency communications to clinicians.
• Identify clinical issues during emergencies to help direct communication strategy and outreach to clinicians.

COCA serves a wide variety of clinicians, including: physicians, nurses, physician’s assistants, pharmacists, paramedics, veterinarians, epidemiologists, public health practitioners, and state and local health department officials. 

Center for HICS Education and Training
The mission of the Center for HICS Education and Training (www.hicscenter.org)
is to advance hospital and healthcare facility emergency preparedness through the development and presentation of incident command operational guidance, instructional materials, program presentations and instructor credentialing.

The objectives of the organization include:

• Develop incident command related guidance for hospitals and healthcare facilities.
• Provide instructional materials for use in teaching hospital and healthcare facility personnel emergency preparedness planning and response.
• Create a clearinghouse for “best practices” for hospital and healthcare facility emergency preparedness and response.

Emergency Preparedness and Response

The CDC Emergency Preparedness and Response site (http://www.bt.cdc.gov/) is intended to increase the nation’s ability to prepare for and respond to public health emergencies.

Guidance on Preparing Workplaces for an Influenza Pandemic
The Occupational Safety and Health Organization (OSHA) publication on Guidance on Preparing Workplaces for an Influenza Pandemic is available at www.osha.gov/Publications/influenza_pandemic.html.

A pandemic is a global disease outbreak. An influenza pandemic occurs when a new influenza virus emerges for which there is little or no immunity in the human population, begins to cause serious illness and then spreads easily person-to-person worldwide. A worldwide influenza pandemic could have a major effect on the global economy, including travel, trade, tourism, food, consumption and eventually, investment and financial markets. Planning for pandemic influenza by business and industry is essential to minimize a pandemic’s impact. Companies that provide critical infrastructure services, such as power and telecommunications, also have a special responsibility to plan for continued operation in a crisis and should plan accordingly. As with any catastrophe, having a contingency plan is essential.

ECRI Institute

Another good resource that is available today is the ECRI Institute. The odds are someone in your facility already belongs to this group and you could just touch base with them on a regular basis to get this information. For more than 40 years, ECRI Institute, a nonprofit organization, brings the discipline of applied scientific research to medical procedures, devices, drugs and processes. It takes this evidence-based information to enable us to improve patient care. So, if you are investigating a new process or device or drug, always check to see what ECRI says about it. It is a good place to see all the unbiased information in one spot. Most of what we need is under their “patient safety, risk assessment and management sections.”

Educational Materials

There are a variety of companies that supply great educational materials. Some of them are free while others require payment.

Large Files Need to Be Sent?

How often have you tried to send a PowerPoint presentation out of your facility and found the file was too large to email? If you haven’t run into this problem yet, you will! There are several services available online to assist. For example, the YouSendIt.com service is one of those nuggets that you will wonder later how you lived without it. If you don’t use regularly you can just use the free service. If you do send out large file attachments the yearly plan is very inexpensive. It is simple to use. I love it!

In Closing

We hope that these resources will assist you in your important work. Of course, one of the most important issues is to document everything. Make sure that you write down the goals that you have in a variety of areas. Remember, a goal not written is only a wish!

Peggy Prinz Luebbert, MS, MT(ASCP), CIC, CHSP, is the owner and consultant for Healthcare Interventions Inc., Omaha, Neb. Luebbert, a medical technologist with a master’s degree in pathology, has worked in infection control for more than 20 years, and has published and lectured extensively on a national level. She is certified in infection control and healthcare safety. Most recently, Ms. Luebbert authored the “Third Edition of the Infection Control Compliance Guide.” She is a founder and lecturer for the Infection Preventionist Boot Camp.

            Ron Stoker, MS, is the executive director of the International Sharps Injury Prevention Society (ISIPS). He has 29 years experience in the medical device industry as a researcher, marketer, educator, consultant and healthcare worker advocate. He has written more than 200 medical journal articles, primarily on sharps injury prevention, infection control, and hand hygiene. Mr. Stoker has his BS in Pre-Medical Zoology from Brigham Young University, an MS in Bioengineering from the University of Utah and an “honorary doctorate” from the school of hard-knocks. As a result of a surgical mishap he was rendered a quadriplegic in December 2006. Informed that he would never walk again, with tenacity and a “supportive and mean wife,” Mr. Stoker taught himself how to walk again. He says that he walks like an “alcoholic” but is really just a recovering quadriplegic!

            Mr. Stoker has conducted workshops and Congresses on sharps safety at national and international meetings for the last 10 years. He is a founder and lecturer for the Infection Preventionist Boot Camp Series. For more information contact Mr. Stoker at info@isips.org.