A study, published in the American Journal of Infection Control, examines the factors that predict whether an infection preventionist had achieved certification in infection prevention and control.
Researchers analyzed data from the 2015 APIC MegaSurvey, which was completed by 4,078 Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology members.
Forty-seven percent of survey respondents had their certification in infection prevention and control. Infection preventionists were less likely certified if:
• They worked in rural facilities
• Their educational attainment was less than a bachelor's degree
• They were aged between 18 and 45 years
• They had less than 16 years experience in healthcare before becoming an IP
• The percentage of job dedicated to infection prevention was less than 75 percent
"Additional research should focus on identifying strategies to increase certification among noncertified [infection preventionists] because [certification in infection prevention and control] is a measure of proficiency that should be a goal for all [infection preventionists]," study authors concluded.