Training needs of infection control professionals in long-term care facilities in Virginia

Background: Infection control professionals from area long-term care facilities contacted us and asked for help in securing infection control training. To determine whether there was sufficient statewide need to warrant University activity, we conducted a needs assessment. Method: An eight-page questionnaire was mailed to 220 infection control professionals in nursing homes statewide. The instrument focused on training needs and also on training accessibility issues. Ninety-nine completed questionnaires were returned for a 41% response rate. Results: The infection control professionals who responded came from a representative group of long-term care facilities throughout the state. Ninety-three percent indicated that they were “very interested” or “interested” in a series of sessions addressing a wide variety of long-term care infection control topics. Ninety-nine percent of the respondents indicated that it was “extremely important” or “important” for any such training to focus specifically on long-term care facilities. Conclusions: Considerable need for infection control training was expressed by infection control professionals in Virginia long-term care facilities. Such training must be relevant to long-term care facilities and should meet accessibility requirements.