HealthStream offers performance learning management solutions to help develop your healthcare staff into leaders and reduce turnover.
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View All ProductsDeliver custom or industry designed product training directly to patient and resident care environments to reinforce proper use.
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View All ProductsIn all areas of resuscitation, from neonatal to elderly care, clinical deterioration is a risk that can be avoided with the help of HealthStream's training programs.
View All ProductsHealthStream's EMS Program offers a comprehensive, CAPCE accredited EMS course library that meets National Registry annual recertification.
View All ProductsNurture the skills of your nurses and medical staff to help mold them into effective leaders with development training from HealthStream.
View All ProductsMake sure your clinicians have the support they need to provide competent care with clinical competency training and development from HealthStream.
View All ProductsHealthStream’s learning management system and comprehensive suite of competency management tools empower your healthcare workforce to deliver the best patient care.
View All ProductsThe suite of healthcare onboarding solutions available from HealthStream aids in nurse retention and improved patient outcomes.
View All ProductsGive your healthcare staff the decision support and skills training they need with the online products available from HealthStream.
View All ProductsHealthStream leverages medical professional development in healthcare by providing staff training programs
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View All ProductsAutomated, web-based provider credentialing and enrollment software for growing medical groups.
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View All ProductsHealthcare scheduling software designed to optimize staffing requirements & elevate patient care
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View All ProductsHealthStream’s free nurse schedule app, NurseGrid™, is built to help you care for your staff and engage with their specific needs.
View All ProductsMitigate risk and elevate your quality of care. Improving both clinical and business outcomes starts with a smarter, more integrated approach to regulatory training, continuing education and quality management.
Learn MoreWorking as an infection preventionist (IP), there is always a running joke that the IP’s job is to go around and yell at people for not washing their hands. While there may be some truth to that joke, as we often do remind people to wash their hands, the job of an IP is much more involved.
Essentially, IPs are professionals who work to ensure healthcare institutions and healthcare workers are doing everything possible to prevent infections. We work hard to prevent and control the spread of infectious diseases among patients, as well as among staff.
Prior to COVID-19, my duties as an IP included hospital rounding to ensure infection prevention practices were being followed, surveillance for hospital acquired infections, surveillance for and identification of potential infectious disease clusters, staff education and training to infection prevention policies and procedures, reporting of state health reportable diseases, as well addressing any other infection prevention and control related concerns that may occur.
Unfortunately, IPs are not always everyone’s favorite health care worker because we are a constant reminder of unknown dangers. For example, we really do spend a lot of our time reminding staff to wash their hands, because hand washing truly is one of the best ways to prevent the spread of infections to their patients as well as themselves.
However, when the unknown danger is no longer unknown and has infiltrated every aspect of our lives, that is when the IP is needed the most.
Since the onset of the COVID-19 crisis, my duties as an IP have inherently remained the same. My fellow IPs and I have still been rounding the hospital, observing infection control practices, and providing education; however, the degree to which we are performing these tasks has expanded greatly.
Even before the crisis became evident in the United States, we were remaining up to date on the latest COVID-19 developments and looking at ways to best prepare the hospital and its staff.
We began our preparations with ensuring front line staff were educated and confident with the CDC’s recommendations for personal protective equipment by providing one on one education and training.
While we have always been involved in educating staff, one on one education is not our typical means of disseminating education to the majority of staff.
Another familiar duty to IPs is rounding; however, rounding the hospital, to include patient care areas as well as non-patient care departments, has been an almost 24-hour duty. Our guidance has been necessary during all shifts and throughout all departments, as we need to ensure all staff feel safe, comfortable, and supported. Adapting our schedules to ensure staff were supported was another change in our normal operations.
Understandably so, there have been a lot of changes, as well as fear and anxiety surrounding COVID-19 and common workflow practices. The essential duties of the IP have remained the same since the onset of the COVID-19 crisis. What has changed; however, is the necessity of an increased availability of the IP for education, rounding, and overall support for hospital staff. As we continue to navigate the crisis, and especially when we begin to return to normal operations, the IP will continue to be a resource for healthcare institutions, ensuring patients and staff alike are prepared and protected from unknown dangers.
Nicole Kraut is a nurse working in Chicago, Illinois, who writes for us regularly about her experiences as an early-to-mid career nurse. She has been a RN for over five years.
Nicole graduated with her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Loyola University Chicago and recently obtained a Master of Science in Nursing with an Emphasis in Nursing Education from Grand Canyon University. She “was inspired to become a nurse because I wanted to work in a career field in which I could make a difference in people’s lives on a daily basis.” She adds, “I feel nursing is my vocation and am passionate about sharing my knowledge and experience in order to positively influence others.”
HealthStream’s jane™ is the World’s First Digital Mentor for Nurses. Jane harnesses the power of artificial intelligence (AI) to create a system that personalizes competency development at scale, quickly identifies risk and opportunity, and improves quality outcomes by focusing on critical thinking. Leveraging decades of research and with over 4 million assessments completed, Jane was designed to power lifelong, professional growth of clinical professionals. Learn about HealthStream’s Suite of Clinical Development solutions for nurses.
PLEASE NOTE: The information in this blog post was considered current at the time of its publishing, 04/27/20. However, the COVID-19 pandemic is an ever-evolving disaster due to new findings, data, and availability of resources. Please refer to the CDC website for the latest detailed information when you need it.
HealthStream’s learning management system and comprehensive suite of competency management tools empower your healthcare workforce to deliver the best patient care.
View All Learning & PerformanceHealthStream offers performance learning management solutions to help develop your healthcare staff into leaders and reduce turnover.
View All ProductsHealthStream works with healthcare organizations to create engaging and high-quality training videos for your staff and management.
View All ProductsImprove care quality and save money by making informed decisions about your healthcare facility and staff with HealthStream's reporting analytics solution.
View All ProductsHealthStream's proven methods for the improvement and overall engagement of your healthcare staff foster a positive workplace and increase retention rates.
View All ProductsThe leadership development program from HealthStream helps mold your high-potential healthcare employees into proven leaders.
View All ProductsWhen you enact HealthStream's quality compliance solutions, you can do so with the confidence your healthcare organization will meet all standards of care.
View All Quality & ComplianceFulfill compliance requirements with a variety of programs and courseware designed to address critical regulatory requirements as well as educate staff to recognize and mitigate risks.
View All ProductsBy increasing your healthcare staff's focus on quality and safety with HealthStream, they can help to reduce medical errors and readmission rates.
View All ProductsLearn about what HealthStream's healthcare policy management software and how it can help aid your organization efforts.
View All ProductsHealthStream's education helps address diversity, equity, and inclusion within your organization, as well as promoting health equity in the communities you serve.
View All ProductsHealthStream offers professional training and education on how to best optimize your reimbursement process within your healthcare organization.
View All ReimbursementTeach your healthcare staff about the revenue cycle and claim management through targeted training and video tools from HealthStream.
View All ProductsLearn about our advanced resuscitation training solutions. Our solutions are designed to help improve patient outcomes.
View All ResuscitationIn all areas of resuscitation, from neonatal to elderly care, clinical deterioration is a risk that can be avoided with the help of HealthStream's training programs.
View All ProductsHealthStream's EMS Program offers a comprehensive, CAPCE accredited EMS course library that meets National Registry annual recertification.
View All ProductsNurture the skills of your nurses and medical staff to help mold them into effective leaders with development training from HealthStream.
View All ProductsExpand the decision-making skills and effectiveness of your healthcare workforce with HealthStream's clinical development programs and services.
View All Clinical DevelopmentMake sure your clinicians have the support they need to provide competent care with clinical competency training and development from HealthStream.
View All ProductsHealthStream’s learning management system and comprehensive suite of competency management tools empower your healthcare workforce to deliver the best patient care.
View All ProductsThe suite of healthcare onboarding solutions available from HealthStream aids in nurse retention and improved patient outcomes.
View All ProductsGive your healthcare staff the decision support and skills training they need with the online products available from HealthStream.
View All ProductsHealthStream leverages medical professional development in healthcare by providing staff training programs
View All ProductsLearn more about HealthStream's Provider Credentialing, privileging, & enrollment solutions.
View All CredentialingExperience standardized and centralized healthcare credentialing, privileging, and enrollment that is smarter and faster than ever before.
View All ProductsAutomated, web-based provider credentialing and enrollment software for growing medical groups.
View All ProductsNCQA-certified CVO verification services for initial and re-credentialing files in an overflow or full-service capacity for healthcare organizations.
View All ProductsSearch, review, and add providers into the Epic provider master file with our Epic app integration, Provider Validate.
View All ProductsMake sure your healthcare staff can schedule out appointments and work schedules with ease using HealthStream's line of software solutions.
View All SchedulingHealthcare scheduling software designed to optimize staffing requirements & elevate patient care
View All ProductsPrecisely align staffing and needed resources to enable efficient patient flow and high-quality, cost-effective patient care.
View All ProductsHealthStream’s free nurse schedule app, NurseGrid™, is built to help you care for your staff and engage with their specific needs.
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