Bench or bedside? IPs take many paths to job
'Almost everything we do starts with a positive lab culture.'
—Patti Grant, RN, BSN, MS, CIC, Wisdom Teachers article in October 2008 Hospital Infection Control and Prevention.
The quote above underscores the importance of infection preventionists building a bond with their clinical laboratory colleagues, an important outreach presumably made somewhat easier when the IP is the laboratorian.
Meet Amanda Tweed, MT(ASCP), wearer of two hats — or is that one hat and a hood? Now four years into that nonstop learning curve of infection prevention, she brings eight prior years of clinical lab experience to her job as an IP at the Palmer Lutheran Health Center in West Union, IA.
"I have a lot of background knowledge of the bacteria, microbes, and viruses, so that might make it a bit easier when I get culture results," she says. But, as we noted, she hasn't left the lab behind. In a situation not uncommon in small facilities, she splits her duties between the lab and the wards. "We're a small 25-bed hospital, so I don't do infection prevention all the time," she says. "It's not quite a 50/50 split. I work about two 12-hour shifts in the lab and a couple of eight-hour shifts doing infection prevention. "
In previous IP Newbie supplements, we have profiled infection preventionists with backgrounds in nursing and public health. Tweed represents another route to the profession, that of the medical technologist (MT) who is certified by the American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP). These folks work up close and personal with the bugs that blight our hospitals, knowing all too well that if you've seen one germ, you haven't seen them all. A microbiological knowledge of pathogens and diagnostics brings obvious benefits to a job designed to prevent infections and subsequent transmission.
"I'm still working in the lab," she says. "I'm right there on the bench some days so I can see what comes across. I can easily look things up and have access to all the lab [equipment]. I think by being in the lab, I can catch things pretty quickly. And when I'm not busy in the lab, I am usually busy doing infection prevention."
However, before we risk putting the specimen before the patient, it must be noted that IPs with backgrounds in nursing may not be as bug-savvy, but they have the invaluable lessons of the bedside in their background and the working knowledge of clinical practice.
"There are a lot of benefits of having the MT background, but there are lots of gaps in knowledge in not having that nursing background," Tweed notes. "You can either be a nurse and not have that microbiology background or come from the lab and not have the nursing background."
Either way, some education is required, so Tweed gets out among the nurses, observes surgery, and learns the workings of the clinical sterilization department. "[In the beginning,] I asked lots of questions, going up to nurses and saying, 'Can you explain what this procedure is?'" she recalls. "It's good that I am up on the floor. Since I work in the lab, I still draw blood every once in a while; so I am up there interacting and asking questions."
IPs working in smaller facilities with limited resources must make networking efforts beyond the institution, of course, and Tweed does that through her state and national infection control groups and associations. Though she has four years experience now, Tweed faces the constant challenge of change that gives that edge to the IP job. "It does make it challenging because once you think you kind of know something — or I can handle this — then things change, processes change or they come out with new guidelines," she says. "It's kind of good and bad because you're always challenged and always have to be ready. Who knows what the next disease or outbreak will be?"
The quote above underscores the importance of infection preventionists building a bond with their clinical laboratory colleagues, an important outreach presumably made somewhat easier when the IP is the laboratorian.You have reached your article limit for the month. Subscribe now to access this article plus other member-only content.
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