“Infection prevention and control idea challenge” contest: a fresh view on medical education and problem solving

Abstract

Background: Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) challenge modern medicine. Considering their high prevalence in Iran, we aimed to provide knowledge on the subject, and to teach about the importance of infection prevention and control (IPC) to a broad audience of pre-graduate healthcare professionals, focusing on education as the cornerstone of IPC. Main body:We invited Iranian medical students to present ideas on "how to reduce HAIs." Projects were eligible if being original and addressing the call. Accepted projects were quality assessed using a scoring system. Forty-nine projects were submitted, of which 37 met the inclusion criteria. They had a mean score of 69.4 ± 18.3 out of the maximum possible score of 115. Four reviewers assessed the 37 projects for clinical applicability, impact on patient safety, and innovation, and selected the best 12 to compete at the 2nd International Congress on Prevention Strategies for Healthcare-associated Infections, Mashhad, Iran, 2018. The competition took place in three rounds. The selected teams presented their projects in the first round and debated one by one in a knockout manner, while the jury reviewed their scientific content and presentation skills. In the second round, the top 5 projects competed for reaching the final stage, in which the teams presented their ideas in front of a panel of international IPC experts to determine the first three ranks. At the end of the contest, the participants gained valuable criticisms on how to improve their ideas. Moreover, by its motivating atmosphere, the contest created an excellent opportunity to promote IPC in medical schools. Conclusions: Using innovation contests in pre-graduates is an innovative education strategy. It sensitizes medical students to the challenges of IPC and antimicrobial resistance and drives them to think about solutions. By presenting and defending their innovations, they deepen their understanding on the topic and generate knowledge transfer in both ways, from students to teachers and vice versa.

Healthcare workers’ level of adherence to infection prevention and control and its impact on puerperal and neonatal sepsis among delivering women and neonates in Central Tanzania: a protocol for a prospective cohort study

“…5 This, in turn, may result in morbidity and mortality among patients and increased treatment costs for both patients and the healthcare system due to an increased length of hospital stay and additional investigations ordered. 6 In African settings where financial and/or healthcare resources to combat or manage HCAIs among delivering women and their neonates are scarce, adherence to IPC standards is vital in the prevention of such infections from occurring. Thus, practice-related factors such as hand washing using soap and running water before and after any procedure, appropriate use of personal protective equipment, frequency of per vaginal examinations (PVEs), control for labour duration and membrane rupture, use of sterile, clean or highly disinfected equipment, environmental cleaning, and waste and linen management must be considered in the prevention of infections in the healthcare facilities as they have shown to reduce the risk mortality related to puerperal and neonatal sepsis.…”

“…On the contrary, failure to adhere to IPC standards in labour wards can result in healthcare-associated infections (HCAIs) among delivering women, newborns and healthcare workers (HCWs) 5. This, in turn, may result in morbidity and mortality among patients and increased treatment costs for both patients and the healthcare system due to an increased length of hospital stay and additional investigations ordered 6…”

Health care workers’ level of adherence to infection prevention and control and its impact on puerperal and neonatal sepsis among delivering women and neonates in Central Tanzania: A protocol for prospective cohort study

“…On the contrary, failure to adhere to IPC standards in labor wards can leads to health care associated infections (HCAIs) to delivering women, newborns and health care workers [5]. This in turn, may results into morbidity and mortality of patients, increased treatment costs for both patients and health care system due to increases length of hospital stay and additional investigations ordered [6].…”

Australia’s states and territories Infection Prevention and Control programs – a comparison study

“…Historically, separate jurisdictional IPC programs were established to promote patent safety and reduce HAIs; (21-24) hence, they were referred to as HAI programs. This naming has contributed to a lack of understanding and engagement by clinicians regarding other IPC program elements (25). A further challenge is that there has not been investigation, analysis nor agreement on the structure and resourcing for IPC programs.…”