The MHA Keystone Center and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) have joined forces to create an educational tool for infection control and prevention. Aptly titled Project Firstline, these online learning modules – available for free to Michigan hospitals – epitomize an innovative approach to healthcare education. Niki McGuire, who supervises the multidrug-resistant organisms containment division at MDHHS, and Josh Suire, Senior Manager of Safety and Quality at the MHA Keystone Center, walk us through the raison d’etre of this initiative and its deployment for ameliorating infection prevention standards in healthcare services.
An offspring of a CDC training collaborative, Project Firstline offers readily available infection control education for healthcare workers at the frontline. The MDHHS and MHA Keystone Center’s joint venture bears fruit in the form of six online modules, tailored to the needs of Michigan’s healthcare veterans. A trio of these modules is designed particularly for infection preventionists, prioritizing quality improvement mandates. Concurrently, these modules work as a ready resource for hands-on training for frontline staff, permitting them to learn at their leisure.
Being a nurse himself, Josh Suire understands the demanding nature of healthcare services. The modules are coordinated providing maximum flexibility, allowing participants to engage as per their schedule, with each module taking less than 45 minutes to finish. These courses were created in order to adhere to the preferences of healthcare workers and are offered cost-free. The modules function individually and collectively, allowing healthcare professionals to choose according to their training requirements.
MDHHS extends the evaluation facet of the CDC’s Infection Control Assessment and Response (ICAR) tool to acute and long-term care facilities across Michigan, in a non-regulatory capacity. The first duo in the module series enlightens infection preventionists on the ICAR process, equipping them with enough background knowledge and ways to assimilate with the MDHHS’s healthcare associated infections team. For frontline workers, the clinical modules are instrumental in coping with critical thinking pertaining to infection prevention, offering an insight into the best practices in relation to hand hygiene, transmission-based precautions, and more.
The MHA Keystone Center’s objective is to acquaint frontline healthcare workers with fundamental infection prevention practices to be incorporated into day-to-day patient care activities by means of fun, engaging learning modules. It is anticipated that facilities across Michigan will leverage these modules to supplement their infection control and prevention programs, thereby minimizing the circumventable propagation of infections.
The details of the Project Firstline series can be sought at the module series webpage or by reaching out to the MHA Keystone Center directly. You may also stay apprised by signing up for the MHA Monday Report weekly newsletter or tuning into their podcast, MiCare Champion Cast.
Source: https://www.mha.org/newsroom/introducing-new-infection-prevention-education/