/// QUARTERLY BEAT / OCTOBER 2022
QUARTERLY BEAT / OCTOBER 2022 ///
buy-in will be difficult to attain. Without that buy-in, the program will struggle to make it off the ground. • Infection Control Plan Communication to Clients: Infection control will be a priority for the practice clients. They want to know that their pet is safe when coming into the practice and won’t come home with an infection that could threaten their life or come with expensive medical bills. Clients will also want to be reassured that their health is a priority as well, especially in the time of a pandemic or during times when seasonal infections are at a high. Product Selection and Product Expert: The ICP will work with leadership and vendors to select the proper disinfectant for each situation based on the practice’s needs. Things to be considered would be pathogens seen in the area, the finishes (metal, wood, concrete, etc.) in your practice, and the scheduling in the practice. Disinfectant qualities like contact time, toxicity, and overall ease of use need to be considered when picking products. Once the products are chosen, protocols need to be put in place so everyone in the practice knows what products should be used in what situation and how to use them. Always keep in mind something that is easy to use will have the best compliance. How to Introduce the Role: The role of Infection Control Practitioner needs to be introduced for team buy-in. The role should be well defined and communicated to the team and questions should be addressed. Leadership needs to take the opportunity to introduce the role, who will be filling the role, and their responsibilities to the team in a positive and supportive manner. The team needs to understand the ICP has the full support of leadership, and their purpose is to help the plan succeed. Communication surrounding the program should be informative and always direct back to the “why” behind the changes. The team will appreciate that not only the health and safety of the patients are a priority, but that their health and safety are also top of mind. CONCLUSION Infection control falls on everyone in the practice, no matter what their role. By designating an ICP the practice is placing priority on their infection control program and putting someone in place to focus efforts on those plans. The ICP will work with everyone on the team to help ensure the program succeeds. Patients, clients, and team members will all benefit from the creation and support of this position.
Compliance Evaluation: The ICPs role does not stop at the initial training. The ICP, with the help of leadership, should also be evaluating the skills of team members, constructively coaching, and retraining as necessary. They will continue to monitor how well the team is following the protocols put in place and evaluate protocols if they are consistently not being followed. Is the product too difficult to use, does the disinfection take too long, and is there a better product that your team could use with more compliance? Quality Control and Surveillance: As the common quote from Peter Drucker states, ”You cannot manage what you don’t measure.”; It is easy to say, “My practice is not contaminated with a specific organism”,; but if you are not testing for that pathogen, you cannot say with certainty it is not there. This lack of measurement or certainty is why a successful infection control program will incorporate quality control and environmental surveillance as a way of measuring the success or identifying the challenges of the program. This is again where the ICP comes to the rescue.
Infection Control Practitioner for the Win
AMY JOHNSON , BS, LVT, RLATG, CVJ Manager of Content Development, VETgirl
WHO CAN BE AN ICP? The ICP can be anyone in your practice, no matter what their role, but who is more prepared for the role than a veterinary technician? Vet techs have the knowledge of microorganisms, disinfection and sterility, and infection transmission. Practices should choose their most motivated go-getting germaphobe. TASKS OF THE ICP Initial Assessment: The ICP will begin by doing an initial assessment of the practice and its current infection control efforts. With this assessment, protocols and improvements can be suggested and explored. The ICP will not be working alone; they will need the help of the practice leadership, manufacturer/distributor representatives, and other resources made available to them. Creating Protocols and a Manual: All protocols and plan documentation should be stored together as a manual for easy access and reference. Digital storage in the cloud is highly recommended, but a binder would work well for practices that prefer non-digital storage. Everyone in the practice should know how to access the manual when necessary. Once protocols are written and signed off on by the leadership, the ICP will organize them and all other plan documentation into that Infection Control Manual. They will also be responsible for any updates to the manual when protocols are updated, or products are changed. Training: Most infection control mistakes stem from a lack of proper training. The ICP will work with practice leadership to determine the necessary training protocols. Once the training has occurred, the ICP should organize documentation. This documentation includes who was trained, how the training was delivered, on what protocols, and when the training occurred. Training should consist of the use of printed educational materials and have the team members sign off on the receipt of these materials and training.
Infection control in every veterinary practice is of utmost importance. Not only are there implications to the quality of medicine we practice, but there are also financial, legal, and reputation implications. An effective infection control program involves everyone in the practice, but there are those that may have a bigger role in putting that plan together, implementing the program, and making sure everyone on the team is prepared to step up to the role they play. For an infection control plan to work to its fullest, practice leadership needs to identify, empower, and support those people with the bigger roles. An Infection Control Practitioner (ICP) is one of those roles that need to be created. The ICP will work with leadership to carry out administrative tasks, including writing and recording the infection control procedures and protocols, team training, putting quality control measures in place, being a champion of the proper use of PPE, and being the go-to source for any team questions or concerns. The administration of an infection control program can be complex and involve many moving pieces. The Infection Control Practitioner will be working with the leadership and the practice team to execute the plan. Leadership must give the ICP the appropriate amount of time during working hours to organize and implement a plan and support them in their efforts. In a smaller practice, this may be an additional duty, but there may be practices (or practice groups) big enough to require a full- time position to monitor all the moving pieces of the infection control plan and execution. The role of the ICP is to be the champion your infection control program by organizing, training, and facilitating conversations. The ICP should not be working in a silo or going into this new endeavor thinking they are alone, and they need to have all of the answers. The ICP needs to be the go-to person, but when they cannot answer a question or is unsure of a process, they need to call in the experts and know where to go to get the answers.
The minimum quality control measures that should be put in place and logged on a regular basis include:
• Testing disinfection solutions • Testing autoclaves and gas sterilizers • Surveillance for bacterial pathogens
Quality control and surveillance logs are a must. These logs will help the practice track values, quickly spot deviations in results, and can be an essential way of proving the infection control efforts made by the practice in the event of an outbreak or other adverse event. These logs should be kept as a record of measurements over time with the ICP creating these logs, helping to determine what should be monitored and how often, and reviewing the logs on a regular basis to see when there is a deviation or problem detected. Developing Communication Plans: There is a lot of communication that needs to happen surrounding the infection control efforts made by your veterinary practice. The ICP should help in creating these communication plans, train the practice team, and if necessary, write scripts to be put in use. Some of these communications include: • High-Risk Patient Communications: Once a high-risk patient is identified, whether it be before the appointment or during, a cascade of communications needs to be set off alerting everyone in the building so the appropriate infection control measures can be put in place. • Infection Control Plan Communication to the Team: The infection control plan and the reasoning behind it need to be communicated clearly and regularly to the team members. Without the “why” behind the program, team
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