ETC 41 - Accelerated Skill Building: Using the APIC Competency Model to Train Infection Preventionists in a Unique Fellowship at a Multi-hospital System

Background: Infection prevention, the cornerstone of a resilient healthcare system, relies on the expertise of infection preventionists (IPs). National shortages of trained IPs have persisted following the COVID-19 pandemic, amplifying the need for healthcare organizations to evaluate their infection prevention training and development programs. Recognizing that competence develops with experience over time, this study demonstrates that targeted education could enable the acquisition of competency and transfer to the practice of managing a hospital infection prevention program.

Methods: A mentor-led, 20-week infection prevention fellowship program was implemented in a multi-hospital system to train three novice IPs. The Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) accelerated internship program guide provided the framework for the program. The curriculum based on adult learning principles included ten modules, approximately 900 minutes of mentor-led didactic review, 16 hours of 1:1 clinical rounding, interdisciplinary shadowing, and incentives to attend a national conference or participate in a certification preparatory course. Completion was tracked through the organization's central repository for professional education. Pre and post-intervention assessment surveys were administered to assess the fellows' competencies in the domains used in the Certification Board of Infection Control and Epidemiology criteria. A de novo scoring system measured the change in knowledge, skills, experience, and confidence in 44 items across eight competency domains from baseline to post-intervention. Statistical analyses were not performed due to the small sample size (N=3).

Results: The participants demonstrated a 40% overall improvement in the eight CBIC competency areas. Three domains, cleaning/sterilization, employee health, and environment of care, with the lowest pre-intervention scores, showed the most improvement post-intervention at 89%, 86%, and 70%, respectively.

Conclusions: The 20-week fellowship prepared an internal IP workforce to lead infection prevention and control programs, filling an organizational need. The outcome suggests the fellowship model's usefulness in accelerating IP training in healthcare.