The role of infection preventionist in long-term and post-acute care has dramatically changed over the course of Covid.

University of Michigan researchers found that while preventionists’ time spent on infection prevention-related tasks nearly doubled – from an average of 20 hours per week to 38 hours per week – they saw little reduction in their other responsibilities.

In fact, half of the respondents in the survey reported working 40 hours or more per week on infection preventionist control activities.

The study, published in the American Journal of Infection Control, observed 78 nursing homes across Michigan over a 12-month span – one pre-Covid and the other during – using a 36-question survey sent to infection preventionists, nursing directors or nursing home administrators.

One change that could have led to this workload increase for infection preventionists is when it became mandatory for nursing homes to report into the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Healthcare Safety Network. Pre-Covid, less than 22% of nursing homes were enrolled in the National Health Safety Network. 

Its use contributed to an average of five additional hours per week, the study said.

“With reporting requirements unlikely to decrease soon, investment into staffing is needed to reduce burnout, maintain quality of care and resident safety,” wrote Karen Jones, clinical research project coordinator with the University of Michigan at Rochester Hills.

Facility-to-facility phone calls also increased during the pandemic as inter-faculty notification of resident infections was done in a variety of ways.

The study comes at the heels of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’s (CMS) update on its guidance for requirements of participation, which among other changes will require facilities to have an infection preventionist to oversee infection prevention and control programs.

While the requirement is to have at least a part-time infection preventionist on staff, they must meet the facility needs. The infection preventionist must also be on-site, according to the guidance, and cannot be an off-site consultant or work at a separate location.