Ready for Anything: EVMS and Compassionate Crisis Care
The COVID-19 pandemic showed us the tough challenges faced by long-term care residents and their caregivers. It also led to a great team effort that we’re excited to share. Dr. Paul Aravich from Eastern Virginia Medical School of Macon and Joan Brock Virginia Health Sciences at Old Dominion University led a group from all over Virginia to create the Compassionate Crisis Care video series.
These videos are a valuable tool for healthcare workers, caregivers, and emergency responders. They teach how to provide compassionate care during emergencies like disasters and pandemics. The videos offer practical techniques for handling tough situations with empathy and skill. The Compassionate Crisis Care team has made a big impact by focusing on this important part of infection prevention and control.
We encourage you to watch these helpful videos and celebrate the Compassionate Crisis Care team’s important work. Congratulations to everyone involved for their outstanding contribution to improving crisis care!
Image: Behind the scenes peek of VPM videographers and actor preparing to do a nasal swab on a nursing home resident with dementia (not seen).
Carilion Clinic
The Carilion Clinic Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) team is engaging patients in the outpatient hand hygiene program. Infection prevention is a team effort, and everyone, including patients, has a role to play. Hand hygiene is the most crucial strategy for preventing infections, and through this program, Carilion is committed to providing the best patient care.
The Patient Feedback Monitoring Program invites patients at ambulatory sites to provide feedback on their providers’ hand hygiene. During their visits, patients receive feedback cards where they can indicate “yes,” “no,” or “unsure” if their provider performed hand hygiene before initiating physical contact. These data are compiled into a Tableau dashboard and shared with sites in real-time to evaluate compliance. The goal of this program is to highlight the importance of hand hygiene in the clinical setting and empower patients to be allies and advocates for infection prevention.
Since the program’s creation, the Carilion Clinic IPC team has been actively engaging ambulatory clinics and promoting the initiative, setting a goal for each clinic to submit 40 observations per month. Collaborating with the marketing and technology departments, the team ensured that the observation tools are accessible. The total number of outpatient hand hygiene observations increased from 12,311 in 2022 to 17,033 in 2023. As of July 2024, outpatient clinics have already collected 11,259 observations, and the year is only half over!
Carilion Clinic IPC Hand Hygiene Survey
LeadingAge Virginia
Meet Emily Varvil, Project Manager at LeadingAge Virginia, an association of not-for-profit aging services serving older Virginians across the aging services continuum. She is passionate about empowering adult day centers (ADCs) in Virginia with infection prevention knowledge and resources. Over the last 2 years, LeadingAge Virginia has worked on the creation and implementation of infection prevention template policies for Virginia’s ADCs. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, these centers were largely without formal written IP policies. However, LeadingAge Virginia realized during the pandemic that as participants socialize in close contact with one another, more thorough IP policies were needed.
Emily and her team have set up a website of grant-developed infection prevention and control (IPC) resources and orchestrated three regional half-day workshops for ADC leaders across the state (Williamsburg, Arlington, and Roanoke). During the IPC workshops, Emily reviews the resources available to the ADCs, provides at-home infection prevention resources for ADC participants (see links below), and includes presentations from Health Quality Innovators about antimicrobial stewardship and Virginia Department of Health about infection prevention education and adult learning principles. They also discuss other available IPC resources from VIPTA and the Virginia Infection Prevention Training Center (VIPTC).
All of the grant-developed resources will continue to be available online when the grant funding ends in July 2024 to help centers keep their great infection prevention work going.
LeadingAge Virginia webpage containing the grant-developed IPC resources: https://leadingagevirginia.org/page/AdultDayIPC
“At home” resources for participants and their caregivers: https://leadingagevirginia.org/page/ADCIPC_AtHome
The workshops for ADCs are being funded by the Adult Day Center Model Infection Control and Prevention Policies grant. This grant was awarded to LeadingAge Virginia in 2022 by the Virginia Department of Health Office of Epidemiology, funded by the CDC under Federal Award Identification Number NU50CK00055.
Dental Infection Prevention Star
Join us in celebrating a cutting-edge infection prevention and control leader in dental settings. Tatjana Snyder is an infection prevention specialist at Virginia Family Dentistry, leading dental infection prevention efforts at 16 locations. She holds the Certification in Dental Infection Prevention and Control (one of the first in Virginia to accomplish this!) and oversees infection prevention staff education and implementation of infection control strategies.
Tatjana ensures hygienic environments, conducts water quality assessments, and upholds dental safety protocols. Her commitment to patient care and safety is evident in her meticulous oversight of instrument sterilization and use of checklists to inspect what she expects. As a member of the Organization for Safety, Asepsis and Prevention (OSAP), she advances dental safety practices and ensures adherence to high standards at all Virginia Family Dentistry locations.
Thank you Tatjana for being a champion for infection prevention in dental settings and working hard to keep patients safe!
Virginia Long-Term Care Infrastructure Pilot Project (VLIPP)
Carilion Clinic’s Virginia Long-Term Care Infrastructure Pilot Project (VLIPP) is a grant-funded program focused on improving infection prevention and control practices within local long-term care (LTC) facilities. The team has been working on various projects since the program’s launch, collaborating with LTC facilities across the Southwest Region. A keystone of the project is staff education on setting-specific infection prevention and control practices. The team provides education in fun and engaging ways including escape rooms and simulated training that incorporates real-life scenarios. The program also hosts a quarterly “Staying in the Know” webinar series aimed at providing updates and guidance on current infection prevention and control issues. Visit Carilion Clinic Infection Prevention and Control for additional information about Carilion Clinic VLIPP.
In addition to education, training, and onsite technical support, a peer-to-peer network has been launched for LTC facility infection preventionists (IPs). The network’s goal is to create a safe space for LTC IPs to connect, share resources and perspectives, and support one another. The network provides an avenue for IPs to talk about IP challenges in the facility, problem solve, and promote mentorship relationships between the IPs. The inspiration for the network arose from feedback received from facility IPs. Interest in knowing how other IPs practice in the LTC setting and navigate their roles and responsibilities was identified as a recurring theme.
The successful launch of the peer-to-peer network demonstrates the devotion of the LTC IPs to the work they do. The Carilion Clinic VLIPP team is excited to see a positive response to the network. LTC IPs in Virginia are welcome to join the network. For additional information about joining, reach out to either of the Carilion Clinic VLIPP infection preventionists listed below.
Steve Carter – stcarter@carilionclinic.org
Matthew Skinner – mrskinner@carilionclinic.org
Cuppa Tea with an IP
Let’s raise a mug and celebrate the one-year anniversary of the Virginia Department of Health’s Cuppa Tea with an IP weekly meeting! It’s been a year of forging connections and sharing knowledge among infection prevention pros, all thanks to Cuppa Tea. Inspired by the cozy chats over tea (or coffee!) between Ginger Vanhoozer from the VDH HAI & AR Program and Eva Anderson an IP at VCU Health (shoutout to Eva for the awesome name!), Cuppa Tea has become the go-to hangout for IP enthusiasts.
Forget stuffy office vibes—Cuppa Tea was designed to feel like a laid-back coffee shop catch-up. With tunes setting the mood before each meeting, you’ll feel the camaraderie and warmth that make sharing ideas a breeze. And can we talk numbers? In its debut year, Cuppa Tea drew in 1,397 attendees, with many making it a weekly tradition.
But Cuppa Tea isn’t just about the numbers—it’s about the positive vibes. It’s your weekly quick check-in for the latest infection prevention updates, a chance to pick up some educational nuggets, and a safe space for bouncing ideas off fellow IPs and VDH subject matter experts. Participants have called it “a fun and interactive way to stay in the loop,” “like catching up with old friends who know their stuff,” and “a breath of fresh air for IPs in Virginia.” With its easy-to-digest format and treasure trove of resources, Cuppa Tea has become a staple in the calendars of healthcare professionals across Virginia.
To grab your mug and join this group any Wednesday at 2pm, get your invite at the VDH HAI & AR Training and Education website or at the Cuppa Tea registration link. Here’s to another year of meaningful connections, shared insights, and many more cups of tea (or coffee) with colleagues and friends! Cheers to Cuppa Tea with an IP!