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.
International Infection Prevention Week (IIPW): October 13–19, 2024
This year’s theme, “Moving the Needle on Infection Prevention,” is all about advancing infection prevention efforts and making infection prevention fun and engaging for your team.
APIC provides activities like the Build a Bug Contest or daily infection prevention Wordles. These interactive events are designed to spark creativity, teamwork, and excitement while reinforcing the best practices that keep everyone safe.
Ways to Use This Resource:
- Build a Bug Contest: Challenge your team to create their own superbug and showcase how they would stop it!
- Daily Wordle: Add some brain-teasing fun to your day with infection prevention-themed Wordles.
- Infection Prevention Challenges: Bring out the competitive spirit with trivia, scavenger hunts, and more.
Target Audience: Essential to Foundational IPC education level
Guidance & Regulation Updates
VIPTA members track guidance and regulation resources to share source documents that guide infection prevention and control practices for public health staff and clinical and non-clinical healthcare personnel.
The date of the regulation or guidance update is included in each post. Please check linked content to be sure it is the most up to date and recommended practice.
Health Update: Prevention Strategies for Mpox, including Vaccinating People at Risk via Sexual Exposure, for U.S. Travelers Visiting Countries with Clade I Mpox Outbreaks (9/23/2024)
Core Elements of Hospital Diagnostic Excellence Programs (9/11/2024)
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services National Healthcare Safety Network’s (NHSN) Antibiotic Use and Resistance (AUR) Reporting Modules
Use of COVID-19 Vaccines in the United States (9/6/2024)
Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee (HICPAC) August Public Meeting Recap (9/3/2024)
VCU Health Tappahannock Hospital
This month we are highlighting the great infection prevention work at VCU Health Tappahannock Hospital. They haven’t had a reportable catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI), central line-associated bloodstream infection, ventilator-associated event, MRSA bacteremia laboratory-identified event, or surgical site infection following a colon procedure in 2023 or 2024 so far! They are a small facility (only 37 beds), so even one healthcare-associated infection causes their standardized infection ratio to be high.
According to Director of Infection Prevention, Donna Tignor, and Director of Quality, Kate Bradshaw, they are most proud of their work on CAUTI reduction. VCU Health Tappahannock Hospital has the standard CAUTI prevention practices in place, such as a CAUTI prevention bundle and discussing necessity every day in interdisciplinary rounds. However, the initiative with the biggest impact was the facility’s effort to empower nurses to follow the nurse-driven protocol for urinary catheter removal. Despite having a nurse-driven protocol in place, nurses were still calling physicians for permission to remove the catheter. Infection prevention and nursing leaders rounded with staff to share their support for the nurse-driven protocol and empower nursing staff to follow the protocol. These leaders made a commitment to back up the nursing teams if the decision to remove a catheter under the protocol was called into question. Infection prevention at Tappahannock also performs in-person onboarding with new physicians so they can review the nurse-driven catheter removal protocol with them. This ensures that physicians are aware of the facility’s protocols and that this is a part of their culture. Great work VCU Health Tappahannock Hospital!
IPC Education & Training Library
Search the VIPTA library of curated infection prevention and control (IPC) education and training resources. The IPC Education & Training Resource Library includes state and national resources related to healthcare-associated infections, antimicrobial resistance and/or IPC. Visit the VIPTA FAQ page to learn more about VIPTA library content.