[MUSIC] Hello, my name is Molly Nice an I'm an infectious disease epidemiologist at the Pennsylvania Department of Health. Today I'm going to be talking to you about infection prevention and control as it applies to the COVID-19 pandemic. Before we get started, I would like to know that any opinions and content presented in this course. Represent the views of the presenters who are responsible for its content. And do not necessarily represent the views or official position of the Pennsylvania Department of Health or the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Let's get started by reviewing the three Ps of infection prevention and control that is policies, procedures, and practice. As part of this section, there are a number of things that we want you to learn. We want you to review the differences between policies and procedures. To be able to discuss some of the strategies for educating staff on infection, prevention and control practices. And we would like you to walk away with an understanding of how policies and procedures can be translated into practice. First, I would like to define each of the three P's, policies set a general framework to guide an organization decisions and actions. An example of this might be want to community requires universal masking for all residents, visitors, vendors and staff. Procedures described step by step actions that should be taken to complete a task. For example, a community may have a written procedure outlining the process for screening visitors. Vendors, and staff upon entry for any signs of symptoms of or exposures to, Corona virus disease 2019. Finally, practice refers to the actual implementation of a set procedure. In other words, this is how residents, visitors, vendors, and staff members actually carry out procedures defined by the community. Let's further explore the differences between policies and procedures. Policies are often broad statements that set expectations for our community. And describe the who, the what, the when, and most importantly, the why. In contrast, procedures have a more narrow, focused by nature, they define the process for meeting expectations set in policies. Like policies they describe the who, what and when but most importantly and unlike policies, they describe the how. It is important to note a clearly defined infection prevention and control policies and procedures. Play an essential role in preventing and responding to COVID-19. Now that we have reviewed the differences between policies and procedures. Let's walk through some things to consider when educating staff on these expectations. Education is key because it is the first step in translating policies and procedures into practice. Staff should be familiar with relevant infection prevention and control policies and procedures to foster correct practice. The following is a list of important considerations when looking to provide staff education. First, educator should consider the age of their audience, young adult learners. May need to receive education in a different format or style than more mature learners. Another thing to consider is the ethnic or cultural background and preferred language of audience members. Educational materials may need to be available in a variety of languages, especially at the content uses complex jargon or specific details. Additionally, each learner will have their own individualized preference on how they like to learn. While education on COVID-19 in communities will often times need to be provided to groups, it is helpful to have a sense of group preferences. Certainly the format for which education is provided will depend on the resources that are available to the community. Is there an established E learning network? Is there a large enough classroom or meeting space to provide group lectures or in person learning sessions to allow for social distancing? These are just a few examples of resources available, finally, educators will need to consider what the best setting is for providing Education. Sound procedures or practices can be discussed or demonstrated in a classroom or meeting room or even on line. Other education may need to occur at the point of care. There are many factors to consider when providing staff education. But the take home message here is that the style or format in which it is provided should really be tailored to each of the communities needs and resources. The graphic displayed here is a very helpful tool in planning for staff education. The National Training Laboratories Institute for Applied Behavioral Science research. The retention rates for each of the following most common teaching methods. As you can see, and perhaps unsurprisingly, the retention rate increases when more participatory methods are used. For example, lectures, readings, audio, visual presentations and demonstrations tend to have lower retention rates, whereas group discussions practiced by doing and teaching others lead to longer retention rates. It's important to note that some educational sessions made deploy multiple of these strategies at once. Combining methods will increase retention rate. Let's look at some examples of teaching methods specific to infection prevention and control education for COVID19-. One example of reading as an educational tool might be having staff read and sign off on new infection prevention and control policies and procedures. For audio visual methods, staff may have an opportunity to watch a video on proper hand washing techniques. For demonstration and Edgecator may choose to demonstrate how to Don and AC PPE appropriately in terms of group discussions. Maybe your community chooses to engage in a group discussion surrounding this course. Her of course, and COVID19- preparedness and response in general for practice by doing after the completion of this course era course, we hope that your community will ask staff to Co develop and test new infection prevention and control procedures. That are not yet in place, but may be helpful to prevent and or respond to COVID19-. Finally, an example of teaching others. Maybe when supervisors receive training on proper hand hygiene procedures. And then Peach staff in their respective Department to follow those same procedures. So far in this section we have discussed the differences between policies and procedures and educating staff to implement them as routine practice. Now let's discuss some additional strategies for moving from policies and procedures to practice. Two ways to do this, or through designating champions and through audit and feedback. We will start with designating champions. Designated Champions is an evidence based approach that identifies leaders to implement, demonstrate, and foster correct practice among their peers. There are many important characteristics to consider when identifying a champion. Community should consider individuals who are respected by their peers persuasive. Early adopters of new information. Effective communicators. And many other considerations. Once champions are identified, communities should train these individuals on correct practice based on established policies and procedures. Education should be provided using the considerations already discussed in this section. One sufficient education has been provided. Empower your champions to demonstrate and foster correct practice among their peers each and every day. Communicating with champions to identify successes and challenges for improvement is helpful in sustaining correct practice. Communication must flow both 2 an from champion a back and forth dialogue so that all levels of leadership and staff understand how correct practice is achieved. I also mentioned audit and feedback as a tool from moving from policies and procedures to practice. Auditing practices refers to frequent observation and documentation of adherence to policies and procedures. Auditing helps to identify gaps in practice for followup- education. Some common examples of auditing are to observe an recorded instances of hand hygiene and or PPE use among staff members when indicated. When an observed practice diverges with policies and procedures, provide staff with constructive feedback for improvement to foster sustained practice. Let's continue with the example of hand hygiene. Let's say a dietary staff member pauses from their work to blow their nose and does not wash their hands after doing so. An individual observing that practice may constructively remind the person to wash their hands after coughing, sneezing, or blowing their nose. In order to prevent any surface contamination from their respiratory secretions. Those providing feedback should avoid judgment or overly critical language, so as not to discourage the person or make them feel uncomfortable. Over all, staff play a key role in preventing and responding to COVID-19 in communities. So ensuring understanding of what is expected, and measures to ensure correct practice, should be made a priority. [MUSIC]
