A Day In The Life Of An APIC Board Member

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.

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. 

From the 18th - 22nd of May I was fortunate enough to be invited to present to delegates at the Joint Meeting of the 17th National Conference on Nosocomial Infection of Chinese Preventative Medicine Association and the 4th Shanghai International Forum on Infection Control (SIFIC) in Shanghai, China. What an amazing event!

Despite having suffered a major and catastrophic earthquake just a week prior to the conference more than 700 Chinese delegates gathered for the 3-day meeting. The Chinese ICPs and high level officials kept apologising for the 300 or so delegates who were on stand-by or who had already left to provide aid to the earthquake region. Imagine the challenges those aid workers faced. The Chinese papers reported major problems with no running water and several cases of “gas gangrene”. It made me again appreciate my own good fortune to live and work in a country where infection prevention is valued and fairly well understood. I also wondered how an organisation like APIC could help these ICPs. Maybe through provision of training materials or contingency plans. International infection control aid is a really important area where we can all potentially contribute. Please let me know if you have an interest in this area.

The majority of the Chinese conference was delivered in Mandarin or Cantonese. As neither are languages I use I had to rely on the excellent services of an interpretor for my presentations. Several of the abstracts and talk titles were printed in English and I was fascinated to see the speed with which Chinese hospitals are implementing best infection prevention practices. This was especially evident in relation to their interests in safe handling, use and disposal of sharps, prevention of catheter-related bloodstream infections and ventilator-associated pneumonia.

APIC members may also be interested to note that Chinese ICPs have developed and routinely make use of their own Chinese Electronic List Serv similar to the APIC List. The list is facilitated by my friend and colleague Dr Hu from Shanghai. Dr Hu is the List’s official Grand Master and more than 100 ICPs across China participate as sub-Master moderators. It’s really amazing to see how APIC’s influence and ideas have touched and fertilised the far ends of the world. I hope to soon add some photos from the trip to this site. Please let me know if you have any interest in learning more about the conference or Chinese infection control. E-mail me at cmurp@icp.au.com     

I would really value the opportunity to meet with as many APIC members as possible and to include you in my personal network. During the upcoming APIC meeting in Denver I will be wearing an ASK ME WHY badge. On Sunday 15th June from 5:00pm to 8:00pm I will be just inside the entrance of exhibit Hall C at the Presidents Opening Reception & Exhibit Hall Opening. Please say “hi” and more importantly let’s talk about your visions for APIC and how APIC can better serve you and your Chapter. If there is an alternative time that suits you better please either call me during APIC on 404 406 9085 or send me an e-mail any time to cmurp@icp.au.com I look forward to meeting you soon.

Since the beginning of the year I have been wracking my brain trying to think of a low-cost fun initiative with potential to raise lots of money for the APIC Silent Auction in Denver in June. I asked myself the question “what would a typical APIC member really value and be prepared to pay for”?. Perhaps I’m wrong but I thought a really valuable and unique item would be a thumbdrive full of the “best” powerpoints from the world’s leading Infection Preventionists. This is something that at every stage of my career I would have really loved.