Three Reasons Why Nursing Facilities Should Train Their Infection Preventionists Now

Dave Kyllo

AHCA is ready to help members meet the new Infection Preventionist Specialized Training requirement finalized by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services in the reform of Requirements of Participation for long term care facilities. The self-study Infection Preventionist Specialized Training (IPCO) online course provides 23 hours of training and education for healthcare professionals who seek to serve as Infection Preventionists. Individuals who complete the course will be trained to effectively implement and manage an Infection Prevention and Control Program (including antibiotic stewardship programs) at their nursing facilities. 

Even though nursing facilities are not required to have a designated Infection Preventionist until November 2019, there are three compelling reasons why it is critical to register for this training now:

• As of November 28, 2016, nursing facilities are being held accountable to more expansive infection prevention and control federal regulations.
• Beginning November 28, 2017, the federal requirements for nursing facilities expand further and require that every nursing facility develop and implement an antibiotic stewardship program. This is a new requirement that should be conducted with oversight from specially trained healthcare professionals. 
• Surveyors nationwide are being trained this summer to survey for the expanded infection prevention and control and antibiotic stewardship requirements.

The IPCO course includes online lectures, case studies and interactive components taught by subject matter experts who have real life experience working in long term and post-acute care. It addresses both clinical and organizational systems, processes and cultural aspects of infection prevention and control that are fundamental to effectively leading and administering successful infection prevention and control programs and antibiotic stewardship programs. Upon successful completion of this program, participants will receive certificates including 23 ANCC contact hours. 

The training course registration fee is $450 for AHCA/NCAL members and $650 for non-members. There are no refunds and no transfers. Payment and registration must be made online here. Discounted group purchase rates are available for groups of 25 or more.  Those interested in making a group purchase should email AHCA here.   

To access the IPCO course, members will need to log into ahcancalED with their AHCA/NCAL usernames and passwords. For assistance obtaining AHCA/NCAL usernames and passwords, please e-mail your name and facility contact information here.