E7: IH and Infection Prevention Collaborative Efforts in Healthcare Facilities

Alex LeBeau, PhD, MPH, CIH Moderator
Exposure Assessment Consulting, LLC
Orlando, FL 
 
John Rice, MSOH, CIH, CSP Presenter
Intermountain Health
Salt Lake City, UT 
United States of America
 
Cherie Frame, MSN, RN, CIC Co-Presenter
Intermountain Health
Salt Lake City, UT 
United States of America
 
Tue, 5/21: 8:00 AM - 9:00 AM EDT
Education Session 
Greater Columbus Convention Center 
Room: A 125 
CM Credit Hours:

Description

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of indoor environmental quality impacts on healthcare facilities. While the focus has traditionally been on protecting patients from clinical risks, there is now a greater emphasis on the overall impact of indoor hazards on employees, visitors, and vendors. This new focus has facilitated the growing synergy between infection preventionists and industrial hygienists. Such collaborative efforts can be vital to protecting the overall health of all individuals within a healthcare facility. This presentation will: 1) review healthcare exposure scenarios to indoor hazards through case studies, and 2) offer the insight of an infection preventionist and an industrial hygienist as they approach the exposure scenarios from each specialized practitioner's perspective. The information can be used by IHs to highlight the importance of understanding the infection preventionist's perspective when working with them and other clinical team members for providing evaluation and control of healthcare hazards. This presentation is being offered as a collaborative effort between the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) and the Association for Professionals in Infection Prevention and Epidemiology (APIC).

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion, the participant will be able to:

• Illustrate working with infection preventionists in healthcare facilities.
• Work with an infection preventionist for a positive experience.
• Develop communication techniques to interact with healthcare clinical teams.
• Formulate ways for the infection preventionists and IHs to work together. 

Content Level

Intermediate

Interactive Session Experience

Q&A

Organizational Category

Corporation/Company

Primary Industry

Construction
Healthcare/Pharma
Services

Topics

Aerosols & Airborne Particulates
Also part of the Virtual Program
Available as part of AIHA CONNECT OnDemand
Healthcare
Indoor Air Quality