Leadership and Professional Development
30/30 Education Session - 30 minutes
Melissa Morgan, MSN, RN, CIC, CSPDT, FAPIC
Senior System wide Director - Infection Prevention and Sterile Processing
Cone Health
Siler City, North Carolina
Nothing to disclose
Janet Haas, PhD, RN, CIC, FAPIC
Director of Epidemiology
Lenox Hill Hospital, Northwell Health System
New York, New York
Nothing to disclose
Managing IPC programs has become increasingly complex, growing from a single practitioner to an IP needing to lead multiple hospitals spread across multiple states. Even as IPC has evolved, challenges still exist in reducing risk to patients, especially related to HAIs associated with medical equipment, device, and supplies. With improperly sterilized or disinfected equipment accounting for nearly 75% of all immediate threat-to life-declarations by The Joint Commission, many IPs are asking themselves how to appropriately lead and manage this operational space.
This session covers the example of one health system that took an out-of-the-box approach to historical reporting structures to improve patient safety. Though sterile processing departments have typically reported to operative services or materials management, this structure can present challenges in understanding how IPC is related to these roles. Participants will learn how this health system matched one of the most cited infection control standards and placed this operational space under the leadership of IPC. This unique structure offers a different view of a historically operational service line and highlights the importance that quality has in sterile processing departments.