Infection control is focus of workshops

The Advancing Excellence in Long-Term Care Collaborative will present the two-hour workshop “Disrupt Infections: Creating a Community of Prevention” in 29 cities as part of the Dr. Bill Thomas' Age of Disruption Tour.

Joanne Rader, RN, MN, will lead interactive sessions and live demonstrations about preventing infections in care communities. Creating “commUNITY immUNITY” in the care setting will be explored as a tool to help break the cycle of infection. Also included in the discussion will be the continuum of organizational infection prevention and raising awareness of how acceptance of some current practices inhibits additional practical actions that would better prevent infections. Attendees will have an opportunity to start developing an organizational plan for infection prevention with elevated steps to apply to their usual infection care routines. Bill Thomas, MD, will close the workshop.

“Long-term care residents are vulnerable to infections, so minimizing those avoidable events must be a focus of all involved,” Cheryl Phillips, MD, immediate past co-chair of the collaborative and also senior vice president of public policy and advocacy for LeadingAge, said in a statement. “This is even more important in the new interconnected world of healthcare, as infections are an underlying course of many hospitalizations,” she added. “We must pull together as a community and make faster progress toward improving health outcomes.”

Workshops will be from 9 to 11 a.m. They are pending approval for two continuing education unit credits from the National Association of Long Term Care Administrator Boards.

Registration costs $79 for the first participant from a community and decreases incrementally by $10, with the fourth registrant from the same community being able to attend at no charge.

Tour dates: