Certificate of Mastery in Infection Prevention and Control for Environmental Services Professionals (CMIP) Curriculum

Learning Objectives

• Apply up-to-date, evidence-based principles and practices effective in eliminating the transmission risk of pathogens.
• Meet CMS standards that require facilities to have trained persons in infection prevention related to the environment of care standard.
• Apply principles of epidemiology to the environmental assessment of risk and explore the associated practices that link infection prevention and the clinical environment of care.

CMIP Curriculum

This intensive 34-hour certificate program will provide Environmental Services leaders and professionals with the requisite knowledge to meet the CMS requirements for a "trained" professional in infection prevention and control specific to the clinical environment of care.

Three distinct phases comprise this comprehensive program which explores the most important topics in infection prevention. The curriculum is as follows:

• Introduction to Microbiology
• Introduction to Epidemiology
• Precautions
• Infection Prevention During Construction Projects
• Infection Prevention and Preparedness for Biological Events
• Critical Thinking
• Capstone Project

Introduction to Microbiology

Microbiology is the study of tiny, microscopic organisms, known as microbes or microorganisms. Although much of this lesson focuses on harmful microorganisms prevalent in health care settings, not all microorganisms are bad. The treatment and prevention of the diseases caused by bacteria, viruses, protozoa, and fungi have only been possible because of microbiology. In fact, antibiotics were discovered through microbiology, as were vaccines and other treatments.

As part of the study of microbiology, learners will explore how infection occurs and spreads. In this introductory lesson, we begin to provide the knowledge and information necessary for environmental services leaders to form effective partnerships across disciplines in their facilities to prevent and control the transmission of infections.

Introduction to Epidemiology

Epidemiology is the branch of science that investigates all the factors that determine the presence of diseases and disorders. Epidemiological research helps us to understand how many people have a disease, if those numbers are changing, and how the disease affects our society and economy.

In this lesson, we will learn to apply epidemiological principles to the prevention and control of infectious diseases.

Precautions

The various environments of health care facilities make them likely settings for the spread of infections because these facilities bring together sick people who are both reservoirs and susceptible hosts. Health care workers are also both reservoirs and susceptible hosts. Because it is impossible to eliminate all reservoirs and susceptible hosts, it is extremely important to prevent the spread of infectious agents. This includes using standard precautions which are meant to reduce the risk of transmission of pathogens from both recognized and unrecognized sources, and transmission-based precautions when warranted in certain situations.

In this lesson, we take a deep dive into the use and application of standard, as well as transmission-based precautions. Note that cleaning and disinfection environmental surfaces are a key component of standard precautions.

Infection Prevention During Construction Projects

Increasing numbers of health care facilities are faced with construction and renovation as hospitals consolidate to reduce costs and improve efficiency, defer care to ambulatory centers and satellite clinics, and create more "home-like" acute care settings.

Environmental disturbances associated with construction activities in or near health care facilities pose airborne and waterborne disease risks for patients and health care workers.

This session explores the unique challenges of infection prevention during construction and outlines the proper work practices necessary to prevent the transmission of infectious agents during construction, renovation, repair activities, and maintenance projects.

Infection Prevention and Preparedness for Biological Events

Preventing and controlling infection during biological and emergency events such as pandemics, bioterrorism attacks, outbreaks of emerging infectious diseases or even a mass influx of people is an ever-evolving process. Health care leaders must adequately prepare for these events to ensure that health care workers, as well as communities, recognize and respond to emergency events. It is also necessary for health care facilities to be prepared to handle the unique challenges associated with these events.

Critical Thinking

This module explores various scenarios and the thinking strategies needed for effective environmental services and infection prevention practice. Reasoning and judgment skills are applied in order to provide quality health care to patients, health care that avoids adverse events and patient harm. The ability to provide this safe, high-quality care and prevent the transmission of disease can be dependent upon your ability to reason, think critically, and make decisions, all of which can be limited by lack of knowledge and experience.

CMIP Capstone Project

The goal of the Capstone Project is to provide an opportunity for the participant in the CMIP program to reflect on their learning experiences and demonstrate what they have learned. The ability to put knowledge into action is known as competence. The Capstone Project will serve as a demonstration of the participant's competence in addressing an infection prevention challenge.

Examples of a Capstone Project could include:

• Development of a video describing a challenge and a solution
• A training procedure or protocol
• A poster or graphic display of a problem, an intervention, and a result
• An environmental hygiene risk assessment
• A case-study or review of an outbreak investigation
• Development of a fishbone diagram depicting how a problem was dissected and resolved