A Day In The Life Of An APIC Board Member

 The photo on this page with my best mate Dee (far left) and friend Justine (far right) was taken in November 2007 minutes before we competed in the annual Noosa Triathalon. It was my first Olympic distance triathalon and represented a pinnacle of the past 18 months when I radically reviewed my lifestyle and health. There were multiple drivers and compelling circumstances that initiated the lifestyle changes. Throughout it all I have been and continue to be well supported and encouraged by wonderful friends and a great group of fellow fitness enthusiasts who coincidentally happen to be great coffee drinkers. Interestingly, I’ve noticed a direct parallel between increases in my physical fitness and increases in my professional growth and the career opportunities which have presented themselves.

Fighting infections and contributing effectively to a professional association like APIC requires enormous commitment and dedication. Planning is also critically important. Clarifying your vision, determining your mission and setting goals enables you to stay focussed and to gauge the effectiveness with which you are influencing behaviours and contributing to a safer patient care environment. They are critical elements of a succesful Infection Prevention program. Imagine then my amazement when I realised that achieving fitness and a healthy lifestyle and sustaining that lifestyle requires exactly the same skillset. The realisation was blinding and now seems so obvious.

Most days for me start with an exercise session. Typically it’s a ride or a run or a swim. Which activity it is is pre-planned according to a set program devised for me by an expert who also happens to be a great friend and a source of endless inspiration. Surrounding yourself with inspiring people who have expertise different to your own  is another strategy that can help goal achievement. However, just having a program and being inspired is not enough, there comes that critical time each morning when it’s easier and much more tempting to roll over rather than to get up and hit the road or the pool. Staying focussed and staying motivated are good tools to keep you on the path at this point. Just like taking regular exercise, staying focussed on preventing infections is really tough these days especially when healthcare systems all around the world are underresourced and typically understaffed. How do you get around it? Well one way is to just keep thinking of your goals and asking yourself if the work you are doing is consistent with those goals. Does it get you closer or further to them? Being prepared and having contingencies is another good strategy. Think about possibilities. What would you do if all of a sudden the Chief Executive Officer of your hospital who was a long term supporter of your Infection Prevention program announced his/ her retirement? Would your program fold or flourish? If an outbreak of some dreaded disease hit your hospital how would you cope? If you had good contingencies in place you would survive and in planning those contingenices you are setting yourself up for success not failure.

So in these few mixed but hopefully wise words of the day I hope I’ve started you thinking about new ways to increase your Fitness To Fight Infections, it’s probably the biggest Marathon you will ever face. Stay tuned for more updates as the Australian season of Summer sports rolls out! Google Noosa Triathalon 2008 if you have an interest in triathalons, but most importantly - keep up your personal and professional fitness, it’s really really important.   

The July 23rd, 2008 edition of The Sydney Morning Herald (see image above) carried a lead story about the intentions of the New South Wales Health Minister to publically release identifying healthcare associated infections (HAIs) data and rates from NSW Public hospitals. What an incredible piece of news and what far reaching implications it could have for Australian and regional infection prevention.

Many of you will be aware of efforts in the US over the past few years where various legislature has been enacted compelling states to submit and publically release their specific HAI data. You may also note that APIC through its leadership, membership and Government Affair’s experts, has continued to raise public and political awareness about HAIs and infection prevention. The APIC website details this recent history well at www.apic.org It is likely that Australian progress will be similar but not identical to our US and British infection prevention peers. However this unfolds I can’t help but recognise that Australian infection prevention is on the cusp of its most recent wave - may it be a great ride.

Below I have copied the content of a recent posting I made to our AICA E-discussion List in relation to this development. Few AICA members have commented but I am sure that each has a response to this initiative.

Since yesterday afternoon two very important infection prevention events have occured. Each will have national impact. The first is the release by the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality on Health Care (ACSQHC) of their Surveillance Report. I have reproduced part of an e-mail sent by the Commission to stakeholders yesterday. I would also strongly encourage AICA members to provide comment to ACSQHC individually and collectively from your state and national perspectives. This is a critical opportunity to influence the future direction of Australian infection prevention efforts.The second event is a frontline story in today’s Sydney Morning Herald where the NSW Minister of Health has responded to the Commission’s publication by indicating that within 3 months NSW will release hospital-identifying healthcare associated infections (HAI) data. Many of you will know that NSW Health has had this information available to it for all public hospitals since January 2003. Whilst there are undoubtably methodological issues which impact the validity and reliability of the NSW data (like every other large HAI data collection system in the world) this is a monumental development.It has the potential to change the way we do business and especially to change the expectations of healthcare consumers. I have closely watched the US public reporting debate unfold since late 2004 and I suspect Australia’s path will be equally challenging. If NSW does release this data routinely every other jurisdiction will likely follow. Our profession is under the microscope well and truly.

Last week my partner and my Mum both had cataract surgery. While it’s been a time for bad jokes and references to “the blind leading the blind” and “two blind mice” etc it was also a time when I realised how critically important the work we do day in and day out is. I can only imagine what it must be like to have someone you care about develop an infection as a result of consuming health care. For the patient I am sure there is a sense of overwhelming frustration and anguish.

Fortunately in my case both patients are doing well and to date there is no sign of infection in either of their eyes. Strict instructions have been given regarding the importance of hand hygiene and good technique for administering the eye drops. Of course it helps that unlike years ago when cataract patients were brought into hospital the night before surgery and spent the first 24 post operative hours with their head immobilised between two sandbags, patients these days are in and out of the day procedure centre within about 3 hours. It’s a remarkable advancement in surgical technique and management. The less exposure to the health care environment the less opportunity for infection spread, and hey who knows what potentially pathogenic organisms might have been lurking in those sandbags.

So for all of you who have ever consumed healthcare or supported friends or family through the journey three cheers for infection-free outcomes and as always heres to hand hygiene and all things aspetic. 

On the 11th July 2008 APIC released a Press Briefing regarding its recent name change. The press release is reproduced below and includes important information about the organisation and the expected impacts of this name change for members. Please feel free to ask me any questions regarding this branding initiative or alternatively give me your feedback so I can feedback to the APIC Board and Leadership.   

WASHINGTON, D.C. — To articulate the expanding roles of its members, the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) announced that infection control professionals will now be referred to as “infection preventionists.” This newly created term joins the list of professional titles such as hospitalists, intensivists and interventionists introduced by the healthcare industry over the past several years.   Infection preventionists direct interventions that protect patients from healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) in clinical and other settings around the world. They work with clinicians and administrators to improve patient and systems-level outcomes and reduce HAIs and related adverse events.  “The term infection preventionist clearly and effectively communicates who our members are and what they do,” said Kathy Warye, APIC’s CEO. “Infection preventionists develop and direct performance improvement initiatives that save lives and resources for healthcare facilities, so this was a natural transition – or a right-sizing of the name – to more accurately reflect their role. By creating a new word, we hope to raise awareness about what infection preventionists uniquely contribute to patient safety, improved outcomes and bottom line savings to healthcare institutions.” APIC also introduced a new corporate logo and tagline which encapsulate the organization’s global reach and focus on prevention: “Spreading knowledge. Preventing infection.” The new elements are the result of months of research and development by APIC’s Branding Task Force and are designed to promote infection preventionists as a separate and distinct profession, whose members are poised for leadership roles in healthcare.  “The new name reflects our strategic vision for the future of the practice and the profession,” said Cathryn Murphy, RN, MPH, PHD, CIC, APIC board member and associate professor at Bond University in Queensland, Australia. “With a declining arsenal of effective antibiotics, it was increasingly clear that the traditional orientation toward the control of HAIs needed to shift to one where preventing their occurrence was the priority. APIC leads efforts in promoting HAI prevention and provides members with resources to help them set and reach ambitious goals for reduction of HAIs within their institutions. Our Targeting Zero initiative encourages all organizations to embrace the concept of prevention and bring HAIs to an irreducible minimum.”  Source: APIC

On 26th and 27th June I had the distinct pleasure of meeting with old friends and peers at the World Health Organization headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. The meeting involved invited members of WHO’s Informal Panel of Infection Control Technical Experts and the main work undertaken on those two days was in relation to defining and scoping the core elements of an infection control program and the key role of infection control professionals.

The meeting was incredibly interesting not just from a technical point of view but largely because it involved internal and external representatives from each of the WHO’s Regions. 

I was thrilled to work alongside experts such as Prof. Wing Hong Seto (Hong Kong), Prof Ziad Memish (Saudi Arabia), Dr Mike Bell (CDC USA), Ms Shirley Paton (Canada) and WHO’s Program champions Drs Carmem Pessoa da Silva and Fernando Otazia. As I understand it a Report of the meeting will be forthcoming and once it has official WHO approval I suspect that it will be made publicly available.

As well as the 2 days of hard work the group also managed to enjoy some social down time at the Le Chateau de Penthes which is located close to WHO. In the photo above you will see Dr Bell and me outside of the Geneva School of Diplomacy & International Relations. I will leave it up to you to determine whether Mike and I were guest lecturers or students at the school????? Stay tuned for further stories from Australia and abroad.