Lessons from the Road:

Effective October 2008, Medicare is no longer reimbursing for procedures that result in infections, and many private health insurers are moving in the same direction. Several states currently mandate public reporting of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) and others are considering legislation. Infection rates will be available in the public domain and consumers will soon be able to "shop" for a facility with low infection rates for a particular procedure.

In preparation for these scenarios, leading hospitals are implementing infection prevention initiatives that go beyond following industry guidelines for preventing negative outcomes. For example, some facilities have incentive programs for caregivers who exceed infection control measures and secret shoppers to ensure that quality care is delivered consistently across all departments.

Manufacturers are also working to help facilities in a variety of ways including the introduction of new innovations that prevent infection, the provision of educational resources on timely topics that count towards healthcare workers’ continuing education requirements, as well as other value-added services that help hospitals communicate their use of devices and supplies that clearly contribute to reduced infection.

But as the saying goes, knowledge is power. And in healthcare, that translates to education is prevention.

Simply put; education goes a long way in reducing the possibility that a patient will develop an HAI. Sounds easy enough, right? Not when you consider how challenging it can be for caregivers to find the time in their busy schedules for continuing education.

The key to updating staffs’ knowledge of infection management and meeting their required hours along the way is often simply a matter of accessibility.

Nearly 70 facilities have experienced this first-hand by being stops on Kimberly-Clark’s cross-country Not on My Watch bus tour which visited 57 cities in nine months. A common theme materialized from those visits: an organizational commitment that facilitates empowerment and confidence in the ability to improve patient care is contagious and becomes a rallying point for everyone.

Through this process, we’ve learned many things about the role that education plays in staff empowerment and patient safety. Four key lessons emerged as common themes across most of the facilities we visited.

According to a survey of bus participants, 94 percent of hospital staff felt that organized educational events reinforced their hospital’s leadership position in patient and staff protection, and, as a result, the staff felt better about their hospital. So how can you harness the powerful effect that education can have on staff members?

• Formalize your commitment to education by communicating its important role within the facility.

• Host an inspirational speaker; ask your manufacturers’ sales reps who they have on staff or who they have access to that can play this role.

• Look within your own facility for staff members who have inspirational stories to share about patient or staff safety.

99 percent of our survey respondents agreed that event-driven education made them feel more empowered to prevent HAIs, while 97 percent felt that education would help them perform their job better.

• Encourage staff to attend in-house educational events by celebrating their participation.

• Recognize your staff’s commitment to education by awarding certificates of completion that caregivers can proudly display.

• Ask caregivers who attend a conference to share what they’ve learned with the rest of the team.

We don’t need to rely on a survey to prove this point; the numbers speak for themselves. The overwhelming majority of the 21,000 CEU’s that Kimberly-Clark issued in 2008 were generated via the bus or programs facilitated in hospitals or presented online. The bottom line…these were the most convenient modalities available to staff.

• Make education convenient, relevant and accessible and your staff will make use of it.

• Again, lean on your manufacturers. Some offer free, accredited programs on a wide range of relevant clinical issues.

• Look for online opportunities that caregivers can complete on their own time.

• Post a calendar of educational opportunities and work with your hospital‘s marketing department to promote via internal communications vehicles, such as an employee newsletter.

The support of high-level hospital executives sends a powerful message to the staff and helps to further create a culture focused on education. To frame this broadly, ask yourself what would the visible commitment of upper management mean to your staff’s dedication and efforts?

• Get your C-suite involved! Don’t assume executives are "in the know" about the importance of education in infection prevention. As we discussed previously, infection, and therefore, prevention, has a direct impact on a hospital’s financial health. Believe me; the C-suite is interested in anything that helps shore up that bottom line.

• Work with your C-suite to develop a recognition program for staff members with high-attendance or contributions to the hospital’s educational efforts.

Coming together as an organization focused on education will empower staff in ways that will help to ensure patient safety and an overall positive culture in which to work.