Training to improve infection control: Creating a self-paced curriculum for clinical and sub clinical health workers

Introduction: Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) are infections that patients acquire during the course of receiving healthcare treatment for other conditions. These infections related to medical care can be devastating and even deadly. In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that approximately 1 out of every 20 hospitalized patients will contract an HAI. Methods: Under a contract with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Booz Allen Hamilton (Booz Allen) developed a self-paced, computer based training (CBT) program to enable and enhance implementation of HAI prevention programs both domestically and internationally. Existing CDC guidelines and standards, such as those promulgated by the Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee (HICPAC) were reviewed and extracted to form the basis for the curriculum. The developers used the ADDIE (Analyze, Design, Develop, Implement, Evaluate) model to enhance the curriculum design and development in order to best serve the target audience. The maximum level of interaction supported by the CBT will be to allow the student control over the lesson's scenario through screen icons and other peripherals. The associated functions include verification of learning through feedback when a response is submitted, learner control (pacing), learner interrogation, and instructional control (navigation). Results: Beta testing of the training program indicates that this is an easy to use training course that health care workers can use to initiate an infection control program in clinical and sub-clinical settings. Future steps are to develop collaborative distribution pathways to disseminate the training as broadly as possible.