ABSTRACT
This article reviews 2 models of skill acquisition, 1 from nursing and the other from aviation, and compares them to the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology Competency Model for the Infection Preventionist (IP). The authors explore the mental activity associated with competence and provide usable examples for IPs to further assess their own competence, and competence of IPs in their charge. This was done for the purpose of advancing and expanding upon the career stages within the field of infection prevention. Further, we suggest a mechanism for expansion of the current Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology Competency Model for the IP, as well as explore career stages and the evolution of professional practice self-assessment and recertification. The authors believe an expansion would better match the needs of current and future IPs in terms of career development and competency.
Subject(s)
Education, Continuing/methods , Education, Continuing/organization & administration , Infection Control Practitioners/psychology , Infection Control/methods , Professional Competence , HumansABSTRACT
With increased federal and state attention to prevention and control of health care-associated infections (HAIs), broad multifacility collaboratives have emerged to guide providers' work at the bedside. This commentary reviews how HAI prevention flows from federal-level guidance through state leadership and into hospitals, connecting governance to its impact on North Carolina's patients.
Subject(s)
Communicable Disease Control , Cross Infection/prevention & control , Communicable Disease Control/methods , Communicable Disease Control/organization & administration , Cross Infection/epidemiology , Humans , North CarolinaABSTRACT
Professional and practice standards for IPs have existed since 2008. The expanding, evolving, and increasingly critical role of the profession demanded they be updated. The standards emphasize flexibility and applicability across a multitude of domains and settings and provide the profession with a rigorous, well-defined set of expectations, competencies, and practices. The result is a succinct set of precepts that encapsulates the field of IPC in the present and foreseeable future.
