APIC Launches Online Infection Prevention Course

Main Category: Infectious Diseases / Bacteria / Viruses
Also Included In: Preventive Medicine
Article Date: 05 Jun 2009 - 4:00 PDT

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The first of six online courses to educate healthcare professionals on preventing the transmission of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) is being launched by the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC). Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) cause 99,000 deaths in the U.S. each year.

The "APIC Healthcare-Associated Infections Elimination Library" compiles APIC's evidence-based elimination guides into an interactive, online format. The APIC course can be used to educate all hospital staff, from the novice to more experienced healthcare workers. This is the first component of APIC's Online Learning Center.

Elimination of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in hospital settings is the first module in the APIC HAI Elimination Library. Future courses will cover catheter-related blood stream infections, catheter-associated urinary tract infections, C. difficile, surgical site infections and ventilator-associated pneumonia.

"APIC's new online library is designed to ensure that all healthcare workers can easily access critical learning about the reduction of HAIs," said APIC CEO Kathy L. Warye. "This is the first time that APIC content is being offered in this way and supports our overall strategy to deliver quality education as broadly and conveniently as possible."

Courses include case studies, links to published guidelines and real-time feedback to assess the learner's performance. Participants can obtain continuing education credit for completed coursework.

The courseware will be available for purchase by healthcare organizations whose employees train on the HealthStream Learning Center platform. HealthStream is a leading provider of research and learning solutions for the healthcare industry. For more information, please visit http://www.healthstream.com/apic/.

Source
APIC