Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2016 Jan;17(1):85-8.
doi: 10.1016/j.jamda.2015.10.017.

Infection Prevention and Control Programs in US Nursing Homes: Results of a National Survey

Carolyn T A Herzig  1 , Patricia W Stone  2 , Nicholas Castle  3 , Monika Pogorzelska-Maziarz  4 , Elaine L Larson  5 , Andrew W Dick  6
Affiliations

Infection Prevention and Control Programs in US Nursing Homes: Results of a National Survey

Carolyn T A Herzig et al. J Am Med Dir Assoc. 2016 Jan.

Abstract

Objectives: The objectives of this study were to (1) obtain a national perspective of the current state of nursing home (NH) infection prevention and control (IPC) programs and (2) examine differences in IPC program characteristics for NHs that had and had not received an infection control deficiency citation.

Design: A national cross-sectional survey of randomly sampled NHs was conducted and responses were linked with Certification and Survey Provider Enhanced Reporting (CASPER) and NH Compare data.

Setting: Surveys were completed and returned by 990 NHs (response rate 39%) between December 2013 and December 2014.

Participants: The person in charge of the IPC program at each NH completed the survey.

Measurements: The survey consisted of 34 items related to respondent demographics, IPC program staffing, stability of the workforce, resources and challenges, and resident care and employee processes. Facility characteristics and infection control deficiency citations were assessed using CASPER and NH Compare data.

Results: Most respondents had at least 2 responsibilities in addition to those related to infection control (54%) and had no specific IPC training (61%). Although many practices and processes were consistent with infection prevention guidelines for NHs, there was wide variation in programs across the United States. Approximately 36% of responding facilities had received an infection control deficiency citation. NHs that received citations had infection control professionals with less experience (P = .01) and training (P = .02) and were less likely to provide financial resources for continuing education in infection control (P = .01).

Conclusion: The findings demonstrate that a lack of adequately trained infection prevention personnel is an important area for improvement. Furthermore, there is a need to identify specific evidence-based practices to reduce infection risk in NHs.

Keywords: Nursing homes; health care–associated infections; infection prevention; infection prevention training; long-term care.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest: MPM served as a paid consultant to Becton, Dickinson and Company. The consulting work was unrelated to the research presented in this manuscript. The remaining authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

References

    1. Dwyer LL, Harris-Kojetin LD, Valverde RH, et al. Infections in long-term care populations in the United States. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2013 Mar;61(3):342–349. - PubMed
    1. Strausbaugh LJ, Joseph CL. The burden of infection in long-term care. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol. 2000 Oct;21(10):674–679. - PubMed
    1. Smith PW, Bennett G, Bradley S, et al. SHEA/APIC guideline: infection prevention and control in the long-term care facility, July 2008. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol. 2008 Sep;29(9):785–814. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Cohen CC, Engberg J, Herzig CT, et al. Nursing Homes in States with Infection Control Training or Infection Reporting Have Reduced Infection Control Deficiency Citations. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol. 2015 Sep 9;:1–2. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Ye Z, Mukamel DB, Huang SS, et al. Healthcare-associated pathogens and nursing home policies and practices: results from a national survey. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol. 2015 Jul;36(7):759–766. - PMC - PubMed

MeSH terms