Heroes of Infection Prevention 2018
- About APIC
- Vision and mission
- History
- Leadership
- Tania Bubb
- Patricia Jackson
- Lisa Sturm
- Devin Jopp
- Deborah Patterson Burdsall
- Lisa Caffery
- Jill Holdsworth
- Monika Pogorzelska-Maziarz
- Sarah Smathers
- Elizabeth R. Wallace
- Harold “Pat” Patton
- Joseph Scaletta
- Carol M. McLay
- Justin Smyer
- Mary Jo Morrison
- Paula Ann Pintar
- Stephanie Carraway
- Leadership Development
- Chapters
- Panels
- Bylaws
- Contact us
- Committees
- Awards
- Research Awards
- 2020 Research Awards
- Research Awards
- Heroes Implementation Research Scholar Award
- Heroes of Infection Prevention Award
- Heroes of Infection Prevention 2022
- Heroes of Infection Prevention 2020
- APIC 2022 Heroes Elizabeth (Beth) Richardson, MPH, MSN, RN, CIC
- APIC 2021 Heroes Khaled Alnafee
- APIC 2022 Heroes Erin Minnerath, Tiffany Martens, and Angie Silva
- APIC 2021 Heroes Lisa Sturm
- APIC 2022 Heroes Patrick Gordon, DNP, RN, CIC
- APIC 2021 Heroes Tampa General Hospital
- APIC 2022 Heroes Kelley Knapek, BSN, RN, CIC, CWON
- APIC 2021 Heroes Jeremy Gibson-Roark, Leslie Lloyd
- APIC 2022 Heroes Jodie Leonard, BS, RN, CIC
- APIC 2022 Heroes Jeffrey Miller, MD, MPH, CIC
- APIC 2020 Heroes Northside Hospital – Gwinnett Medical Center
- APIC 2020 Heroes Regions Hospital
- Heroes of Infection Prevention 2019
- APIC 2020 Heroes Kelly West and Craig Gilliam
- APIC 2020 Heroes Westchester Medical Center IPC Team
- APIC 2020 Heroes Brenda Ehlert
- APIC 2020 Heroes Emory University Hospital Midtown
- Heroes of Infection Prevention 2018
- Heroes of Infection Prevention 2017
- Heroes of Infection Prevention 2016
- Heroes of Infection Prevention 2015
- Heroes of Infection Prevention 2014
- Heroes of Infection Prevention 2013
- Heroes of Infection Prevention 2012
- Heroes of Infection Prevention 2011
- Heroes of Infection Prevention 2010
- Heroes of Infection Prevention 2009
- Heroes of Infection Prevention 2008
- Heroes of Infection Prevention 2007
- Heroes of Infection Prevention 2006
- APIC/AJIC Publication Excellence Award
- Distinguished Awards
- Chapter Awards
- Presidents’ Distinguished Service Award
- Scholarships
- Award Recipients 2019
- Awards Overview
- Membership Sections
- Corporate/System Level Director IP Section
- Oncology Section
- IP Informatics Section
- Critical Access Hospitals (CAH)
- Ambulatory Care section
- Behavioral Health section
- EMS/Public Safety section
- Home Care section
- International section
- Long-Term Acute Care (LTAC) section
- Long-Term Care (LTC) section
- Minority Health and Safety section
- Pediatrics section
- Public Health section
- Veterans’ Affairs (VA) section
- For Media
- Staff Directory
Engaging Multi-Disciplinary Expertise to Generate Sustained Improvements
JoAnn Grote, BS, MT(ASCP)
Deborah Schotting, RN, MSN, CIC
Excela Health
Greensburg, PA
By fully leveraging expertise from multiple departments, the infection prevention team at Excela Health effectively tackled rising Clostridium difficile (C. diff) rates at their three-hospital system.
Team leads JoAnn Grote and Deborah Schotting came to infection prevention from different professional backgrounds, so they understood the benefits of varied professional perspectives and experience. “Our department has four infection preventionists – two medical technologists and two nurses,” Grote said. “We feel like this is the ideal mix.”
When a steadily rising C. diff infection (CDI) rate led Excela Health leadership to establish an internal target for reducing or eliminating the infection, the infection prevention team welcomed the creation of an interprofessional team to help improve patient safety. The system’s continuous improvement team leveraged LEAN methodology to bring everyone together and achieve their goals. “We knew we needed a broad range of expertise to achieve our goals and the LEAN facilitator really helped us stay on track,” Schotting said.
Excela Health’s CDI LEAN team created a comprehensive campaign focused on early identification and prevention of C. diff infections through appropriate testing, physician education, isolation/safety zone precautions, antibiotic stewardship, environmental cleaning, and staff and patient awareness.
“We leveraged everyone’s strengths,” Grote said. “It wasn’t just about infection control and nursing.”
In addition to participation from nursing, pharmacy, laboratory, and environmental services departments, the Excela Health marketing and communications department created instrumental tools, team members educated nurses about documentation and process, and the system librarian identified key evidence-based resources.
In just over two years, the system achieved a 43.8 percent reduction in healthcare-associated C. diff infections.
“This outcome alone demonstrates the power of a multi-disciplinary team, but the cultural awareness we generated about each healthcare worker’s role in combatting these infections is just as important,” Schotting said.