PSQH Quick Poll 2023: Taking the Pulse of Infection Prevention Efforts

By Jay Kumar

As part of PSQH’s celebration of International Infection Prevention Week, we decided to reach out to our readers with a few questions to find out the state of infection prevention efforts.

The Quick Poll had a total of 400 respondents.

Infection prevention efforts

Asked to rate the infection prevention efforts of their organization, 53.74% of respondents said their program was extremely effective, 44.8% said their organization’s infection prevention was somewhat effective, and 1.5% said their efforts were not effective.

Organizational preparedness for infectious disease outbreaks

As U.S. healthcare organizations continue to battle COVID-19 and other viruses, another flu season is right around the corner. From an organizational standpoint, a majority of respondents (63%) to the PSQH Quick Poll said they are very prepared for infectious disease outbreaks. Another 36.8% said they are somewhat prepared for future outbreaks, while 0.25% say they are not prepared.

Strength in various areas

We queried respondents on their perceived level of strength in various infection control areas. When it comes to healthcare-associated infection prevention, 47.1% of respondents say they are very strong, 44.1% say they’re somewhat strong, 8.3% say they are somewhat weak, and 0.5% say they are very weak. With hand hygiene compliance, 29.6% of respondents say they are very strong, 48.4% say they are somewhat strong, 19.6% consider themselves somewhat weak, and 2.5% say they are very weak.

Infectious disease surveillance and reporting was the strongest area, with 64.4% of respondents saying they were very strong, 28.1% saying they were somewhat strong, 7% saying they were somewhat weak, and 0.5% saying they were very weak.

In the area of employee education and health, 33.4% say they are very strong, 49.3% say they are somewhat strong, 16.3% say they are somewhat weak, and 1% say they are very weak. With regards to isolation, 43.6% say they are very strong, 42.9% say they are somewhat strong, 12.8% say they are somewhat weak, and 0.77% say they are very weak. In sterilization and disinfection, 49.1% say they are very strong, 40% say they are somewhat strong, 9.4% say they are somewhat weak, and 1.5% say they are very weak.

Asked about stocking supplies of required equipment (PPE, vaccines, etc.), 62% say they were very strong, 33.3% say they were somewhat strong, 4.5% say they were somewhat weak, and 0.3% say they are very weak.

Biggest priority

Asked about their biggest infection prevention priority at the moment, 37.4% of respondents say it was flu and cold season. Another 20.6% say the new wave of COVID-19 cases, 9.4% say infection prevention in long-term care facilities, and 4.8% say keeping necessary supplies in stock. Other responses include: Getting everyone back to basics post-COVID; having admin listen to us and our subject expertise in the wake of rising costs, budget cuts, and layoffs; education on the why of infection prevention; compliance of staff; isolation/PPE fatigue by staff; device-related infections; CDI prevention; healthcare worker adherence; HAI prevention; hand hygiene compliance; improving PPE compliance; hand washing; surgical site infections; balancing daily workload with regulatory requirements; CLABSI prevention; MDROs; prevention of wound infections; getting compliance from nurses to isolate patients who need be isolated; mindful masking; central sterile/temp/humidity issues; VRE transmission and outbreaks.