VIPTA is a statewide infection prevention and control education collaborative, led by the Virginia Healthcare-Associated Infections Advisory Group. Through partnership, VIPTA curates IPC resources for Virginia’s healthcare, congregate care, and public health settings.
It’s Not Just a Room Turnover: It’s Infection Prevention
Did you know that patients admitted to rooms where the previous occupant had a multidrug-resistant organism (MDRO) face a higher risk of acquiring that same organism? Every day, environmental services (EVS) professionals work alongside frontline healthcare staff to reduce this risk and protect patients and residents. When we support EVS teams, we strengthen the entire infection prevention system.
What to Expect and How to Use It: With some EVS staff receiving as little as three days of training, and 83% learning on the job, education needs to be quick, practical, and built into their daily workflow.
- Onboarding: Project Firstline Training Toolkit for Environmental Services (EVS) Staff – A comprehensive training plan that builds both the why and the how, helping EVS staff confidently step into their role as essential infection prevention team members.
- New Refreshers: CDC EVS Microlearns – Quick, practical micro-learns covering key topics like contact time, when to change gloves, and maintaining clean and safe EVS carts, perfect for reinforcing skills in just a few minutes.
- New Observation & Support: VDH Daily Room Cleaning Checklist – A simple, structured checklist to guide room cleaning from start to finish, helping standardize workflows and ensure no critical steps are missed.
Target Audience: Essential IPC Education Level
Carilion Clinic’s Internship Program Prepares the Next Generation of Infection Preventionists
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Carilion Clinic’s Infection Prevention and Control team is celebrating an innovative workforce development initiative: the Accelerated Internship Program for Infection Prevention and Control (IPC). Created to address the growing need for trained IPC professionals, the program offers aspiring infection preventionists and graduate students a structured, hands-on introduction to the field. The 10-week program includes 20 hours per week of core IPC learning. Interns build a strong foundation while applying concepts in real clinical settings. Topics include hand hygiene, standard and transmission-based precautions, healthcare-associated infection prevention, surveillance and reporting, regulatory readiness, environment of care, disinfection and sterilization, surgical services, microbiology, outbreak response, exposure management, and specialty care settings. |
The program’s practical design is one of its greatest strengths. Rather than learning only from reading, interns round with teams, observe surveillance processes, review dashboards, participate in environment of care activities, shadow sterile processing and laboratory workflows, explore outbreak response tools, and prepare department presentations. They also gain access to facility tools, policies, checklists, and national resources that support continued development. The internship is led by IP Savannah Butcher, MPH, who thoughtfully curates a meaningful learning experience. As she shares, “the most rewarding part of coordinating the internship program is mentoring students and helping them discover how impactful infection prevention is to patient safety and healthcare quality.” Cheers to Carilion Clinic’s IPC team for investing in future Infection Preventionists through a thoughtful model that combines mentorship, evidence-based practice, and real-world experience. Getting Started Tips
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