Think your kids are ultimately going to pick out your nursing home? Buy them this book

January 12th, 2015

Infection prevention has been historically under-resourced in long-term care, even as these settings have become awash in antibiotics and residents possibly colonized or infected with multidrug resistant pathogens move back and forth across the health care continuum. With a long gray line of baby boomers stepping gingerly forward, the challenges of infection control in long term care should be addressed sooner than later.

To help long-term care facilities create and implement comprehensive infection prevention programs, the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) has published the Infection Preventionist’s Guide to Long-Term Care.

APIC estimates that some 1.5 million infections occur annually in LTCF, resulting in 350,000 to 400,000 deaths.

“With more than 15,000 long-term care facilities in the United States, and a national priority to prevent healthcare-associated infections, APIC’s new book guides LTCFs through the essential components of an evidence-based infection prevention program,” says Katrina Crist, MBA, APIC CEO.

The guide book includes a CD-ROM with customizable forms, tools, and resources. Developed by a team of infection prevention experts, the book presents topic-specific information in a user-friendly format that includes numerous examples, visuals, checklists, and references to help increase the understanding of:

• Regulatory requirements
• Comprehensive infection prevention risk assessment and program development
• Surveillance and reporting
• Nursing assessment and interventions to prevent the most commonly occurring infections in long-term care
• Environmental cleaning and disinfection
• Unique long-term care issues such as care transitions and life enrichment activities
• Occupational health, immunization programs, and staff education
• Disaster and pandemic preparedness