Determining infection prevention staffing needs for the pediatric ambulatory and procedural care setting

Abstract

Background: Recent analyses suggest that existing infection preventionist (IP) staffing ratios do not reflect the scope of institutional needs after accounting for complexity and non-inpatient locations. We sought to determine the current IP staffing level required to address the complexity and scope of our pediatric ambulatory and procedural operations.

Methods: This needs assessment was adapted from previous analyses by Bartles et al (2018). We surveyed IPs covering ambulatory/procedural locations regarding clinical complexity indicators and estimated hours per week spent engaged in IP activities. The reported hours were used to calculate total IP hours per week and associated full-time equivalents (FTEs).

Results: Half (118/237) of surveyed locations/services reported at least 1 complexity indicator, while nearly 9% (21/237) reported 3 or more complexity indicators. IPs spent 181.0 h/wk focused on ambulatory/procedural locations, equating to 4.5 FTEs.

Discussion: Infection prevention and control leadership used these findings to successfully add 4 IP FTEs to the department. These FTEs will allow increased ambulatory/procedural IP support, improved regulatory readiness, and increased quality improvement initiatives.

Conclusions: Assessing the complexity and scope of pediatric ambulatory/procedural locations can be a valuable tool for (1) advocating for overall IP staffing increases at a system level and (2) determining the distribution of IP time and resources in such locations.

Keywords: Ambulatory operations; Infection prevention department staffing; Procedural operations.