Understaffed hospitals have higher rates of infection, study says

Medical Xpress October 10, 2024
Association for Professionals in Infection Control

Inadequate infection prevention and control staffing levels are associated with higher rates of health care-associated infections, according to a new study published in the American Journal of Infection Control.

The study, conducted by the APIC Center for Research, Practice & Innovation, summarizes a pilot project to evaluate a new online calculator aimed at providing facility-specific recommendations for infection prevention staffing.

Infection prevention and control programs with staffing levels that are below expected demonstrate significantly higher rates of central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI), catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI), Clostridioides difficile infections, and colon surgical site infections.

For example, 25% of facilities staffed at lower-than-expected staffing levels had elevated CAUTI rates, as compared to only 7% of hospitals with expected or above...

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