“10 Tips To Prevent Infection”: An Interactive Tutorial for Preventing Infections

ISSUE: Providing education to healthcare workers is an essential part of the Infection Control Program. New and innovative ways of presenting infection control information was explored during 2003. The goal was to utilize an educational aproach that could reach a large number of staff at any given time without requiring an instructor and to make it fun. PROJECT: The concept of an interactive educational tool was discussed and a mini-grant for integrating and evaluating innovative educational technology was obtained. Development of a computer-based education tool was accomplished in collaboration with the local university and the Infection Control Department. The title, “Ten Tips to Prevent Infection,” was designed to remind staff about the cornerstone of all infection controll programs: hand hygiene. The first screen is two hands facing the viewer. The word “PROTECTION” appears above each finger and is used to guide the user to a different screen for each important infection control concept. For example the “N” in protection is used to reinforce the concept that no articficial nails are to be worn by healthcare providers. Each screen is a different game. RESULTS: The CD was completed in 2004 and was trialed in the new employee orientation that is conducted at the hospital weekly. The “10 Tips to Prevent Infection” CD is shown to the new hires with the new employee facilitator running the program. Since the program was instituted in September, 2004, the infection control portion of new orientation has received excellent evaluations! The CD is also used for the orientation of all new nursing staff. The format includes the facilitator guiding the new employees throught the program. The program has been well received by the nursing staff as well. The game was also placed on a website and is available for anyone to use. LESSONS LEARNED: Supplying educational information to healhtcare workers can be a challenge; however, by utilizing an interactive computer program it can become fun for the student. Barriers to implementing this program for hospital-wide annual review included incompatitibility of computer hardware and IT restrictions. Difficulty making the CD available to other institutions due to marketing issues also became an unforeseen barrier.