More infection prevention staffers linked to fewer infections

Hospitals with more infection prevention staffers were strongly associated with fewer health care-associated infections, a study in the American Journal of Infection Control found. Since universal infection prevention and control staffing recommendations do not account for hospital complexity, the authors developed an online survey-based calculator incorporating factors to predict staffing needs. According to the calculator, 79.2% of respondent staffing was below the expected rates. More than 85% of respondents who thought their staffing levels were insufficient came from hospitals the calculator found to have lower-than-expected infection prevention staffing. Those hospitals had higher rates of HAIs, such as central line-associated bloodstream infections. (American Journal of Infection Control article, 10/10/24)