Infection preventionists’ journals give behind-the-scenes look at pandemic
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“Fear of personal protective equipment (PPE) shortages creating panic ... Hoarding and possible theft of PPE ... adding to crisis.”
“Never thought I'd see the day when consumption of product (hand soap, alcohol hand rub) was in such demand.”
“This week has seemed like 6 months shoved into a 7-day period.”
These and other thoughts described what it was like behind the scenes for infection preventionists as they kept health care workers and patients safe during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to researchers.
The thoughts, and others like them, were collected as part of a survey conducted in real time to document the experiences of infection preventionists during the early months of COVID-19. They were presented at the annual conference of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology.
“This study was conducted at the beginning of the pandemic in the United States when health care was significantly impacted by shortages in PPE, testing capabilities, and physical space to care for patients. Infection preventionists were at the center of the response and constantly evolved to meet incredible challenges,” Tania N. Bubb, PhD, RN, CIC, FAPIC, director of infection control at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, told Healio. “Among other things, infection preventionists were creative, agile and flexible in providing rapid guidance to frontline staff in the setting of an evolving, tumultuous and unprecedented situation.”
For the study, more than 25 infection preventionists at the hospital completed more than 150 surveys from March to July of 2020. Initially, surveys were sent weekly between March 8 to May 16 but were then switched to twice monthly between May 16 and July 15.
Overall, the surveys and journals showed that infection preventionists believed that basic infection prevention and control practices were validated throughout the pandemic, PPE shortages were a major concern, and health care professionals generally felt anxious, fearful and panicked, untrusting and frustrated, but became calmer and more confident during decreases in COVID-19 cases, the researchers reported.
Bubb said that although infection preventionists have always been “in the background championing protection” from infections for patients, the survey showed that their partnership with colleagues was “suddenly seen as valuable when the focus shifted to keeping health care workers safe from COVID-19.” She said the pandemic thrust infection preventionists to the forefront to make timely decisions about PPE to protect their colleagues.
“Infection preventionists were crucial in the COVID-19 response efforts. They played an essential role and worked through enormously challenging situations never before encountered. There are very few studies that focus on infection preventionists’ experiences, and we know of none other during this pandemic,” Bubb said.
“While IPs have responded to epidemics before, the scope of the COVID-19 pandemic is unrivaled,” she said. “This is a novel study because of its focus on IP experiences and the use of social media as a recruitment strategy.”
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Bubb TN, et al. Infection preventionists’ experience during the first wave of COVID-19 outside of China. Presented at: APIC 2021; June 28-30, 2021 (virtual meeting).
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