Still standing: Infection prevention emerges – with a few battle scars -- as recession fades

January 12th, 2015

Infection preventionists have generally weathered the Great Recession in good shape, though the field remains in flux as “old school” IPs leave and a new wave of IPs from more diverse backgrounds enter the field.

One very good sign is that 67% of IPs responding to the Hospital Infection Control & Prevention 2012 salary survey reported they received a raise in the last year.

Breaking those numbers down, 51% reported an increase of 1% to 3%; while 11% were compensated an additional 4% to 6%; and 4% received a hefty hike in the 7%-10% range. Still, 33% of IPs reported no increase in compensation. The median hospital size of respondents was 200 beds or less, with 37% reporting they worked in a hospital with less than 100 beds.

IPs traditionally have nursing backgrounds, but that is gradually changing as more job seekers with different areas of expertise enter the field.

“One of the most exciting things that has happened in the last decade is the entrance of the MPH – master’s in public health – into the profession,” says Patti Grant, RN, BSN, MS, CIC, the 2013 president of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC). “And I don’t mean an RN or a med tech who decides to go back to school to get an MPH. I mean people who are getting an MPH and almost right out of school they jump from public health into infection prevention.”

For our full salary survey and economic report see the March 2013 issue of Hospital Infection Control & Prevention.