A deficit in adequate staffing for infection prevention can escalate the rates of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs), reveals a research study examining an online calculator tool purposed to assist healthcare facilities to meet staffing requirements. The research highlights that the majority of the studied acute-care hospitals were inadequately staffed, leading to an elevated risk for HAIs including central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs), catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs), Clostridioides difficile infections, and colon surgical site infections (SSIs).
An innovative creation, this online calculator is a unique resource to assist healthcare institutions in advocating for ample resources crucial to ensuring the safety of both patients and healthcare providers, states Dr. Rebecca Bartles, the Executive Director of the Center for Research, Practice and Innovation at the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Prevention (APIC). Prior studies back the notion that a rise in numbers of infection preventionists at healthcare facilities substantially diminishes HAI rates.
The online calculator, tried and tested by Bartles and her team, is an APIC initiated pilot project offering balance to healthcare facilities between optimal staffing ratios and diverse factors like complexity of services or specialist units, in order to ascertain the ideal infection prevention team size. APIC indicates that this calculator strives to alleviate the limitations of using merely a clinician to bed ratio in defining staffing requirement, by factoring in additional complexities.
A total of 390 acute-care hospitals were a part of the study, and their data from the staffing calculator was analyzed. The study revealed that while the staffing ratio at few facilities was as per expectations, a large percentage were below the expected staffing level. The research strongly emphasizes the correlation between well-staffed hospitals and standardized infection ratios (SIRs).
The responsibilities of an IP have profoundly evolved over the past decade and recommended staffing levels need to be in sync with these changes, express Bartles and her team. APIC continues to refine and develop the calculator, planning to update it periodically using data from the escalating use of the tool across facilities. The beta version of the tool is available on APIC’s website and is eagerly welcomed by the field of infection prevention and the larger healthcare community.