A Day In The Life Of An APIC Board Member

It’s Sunday 3:48pm in Sydney, Australia as I write this posting. Yesterday morning after 24 hours of travel I arrived back from Denver, USA in time to turn aorund my suitcase and head this afternoon for London via Singapore. This travel is in preparation for a meeting of the World Health Organization’s Informal Network of Technical Infection Control Experts which will be held in Geneva, Switzerland this Thursday and Friday. The group includes invited experts from each continent and all of WHO’s regions. It is an honour to be part of the group.

The WHO meeting comes on top of a very busy and incredibly rewarding week at APIC 2008 in Denver. The APIC 2008 conference was amazing with incredible presentations addressing all of the hot-topics for infection prevention. Yes, you read correctly - in Denver APIC took the bold step of re-branding our profession. This rebranding included a new title for our work. From Denver onwards we will be known as INFECTION PREVENTIONISTS. It’s a mouthful but promises to elevate the profession in  public, professional and governmental arenas all around the world. Personally this is a very exciting time. A time of great opportunity and one which I am sure APIC will guide with great vision. As this change is implemented I am sure that the Board and the APIC staff will constantly be vigilant and in touch with the membership as their views are sought and their input acted upon. Hold on tight, it’s going to be a great ride. See APIC’s website at www.apic.org as the brand is rolled out.

More from the northern hemisphere in a few days!

Many of my friends, family and colleagues wonder how professionals in Infection Prevention ever find time for doing things other preventing infections. It’s actually a reasonable question given the enormous stressors that we face. Lack of resources, increased public scrutiny, jampacked schedules, tight budgets and staff shortages are just some of things that the modern infection preventionist faces on an almost daily basis. So how can we continue to function  at our best and in ways that are sustainable and sensible? Here’s how I try.

Firstly, we have to take good care of ourselves. This means keeping a healthy perspective on issues, getting enough rest and regularly taking some time out from infection prevention. Hopefully some of that time out may include regular healthy exercise. Obviously for a machine such as our body to function well it needs to be fueled well and so good nutrition is also important. The lessons of exercise and nutrition were probably one of the last lessons I learnt but hopefully my current efforts to reach a healthy state will pay off in increased years of life which means I can continue to enjoy many more years in infection prevention. Here are some of the ways I try to keep a balance:

1. Enjoy sunrise if you a morning person and moonlight if you are a nightowl.
2. Say “thank you” often and always with sincerity.
3. Be a mentor and engage a mentor
4. Ask for help when you need it and give it when others ask for it.
5. Realise that most of the things that stress us are not life-threatening (they just feel that way if we let them) 
6. Take some exercise that raises your heart rate for at least 30-45 minutes everyday - my favourites are running, cycling and swimming.
7. Laugh lots and especially at yourself.
8. Enjoy good company everyday
9. Eat a balanced, healthy diet and get regular sleep
10. Think outside of the square

Many APIC members ask me how do I manage to contribute to APIC activities and discussions when my base in Australia is at least 14,000 miles from APIC’s head office in Washington, DC. It’s actually much easier than you would imagine. For a start, my day is already more than 12 hours long when the first APIC staff and other Board members begin the same day. For example it’s now almost 7pm here in Queensland and it’s almost 5am the same day in DC. So my Monday in-box is almost empty and ready for all that APIC can throw at it while I rest up.

When I wake up and check my Blackberry I always have enough time to respond to any urgent requests and still make the end of the DC business day. It’s remarkable actually.

Probably the most difficult thing has been having to get up sometimes at 5am to start a 2-hour Board call. Or perhaps even worse has been staying awake to start an all-day conference call meeting in DC which starts at 11pm my time. Thankfully the few times I’ve needed to do that I’ve been up for the challenge and thankfully no-one on the other end gets to see my pyjamas!

Strangely the way that I do business with many of my peers in Australia now is by phone or occasional meeting. The rest of the time e-mails and Blackberries work wonderfully for us. I honestly think that time zones are irrelevant because if you really care about your role on the Board, as all the current Board members, we all make sure where there for when it matters.

That said, it’s always great to meet my Board colleagues face to face and I am excited about that opportunity late next week in Denver.