International Infection Prevention Week Celebrates Generations of Infection Prevention

International Infection Prevention Week, established by the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC), starts today. The week honors the dedicated professionals who protect patients, staff and communities from healthcare-associated infections. We celebrate the journey—from the plague doctors of the 1600s to the infection preventionists of tomorrow. This year’s theme, Past. Present. Protected., honors the history, the progress and the promise of infection prevention.

In honor of International Infection Prevention Week, GP Pro shared a pragmatic approach to improving hand hygiene compliance. To evaluate top obstacles to hygiene compliance, Ryan Kantor, director, insights and knowledge at GP PRO, administered an online survey to APIC conference attendees in June. The 124 infection preventionists (IPs) who participated revealed that compliance failures are heavily impacted by system reliability:

• 89% said empty or nonworking soap/sanitizer dispensers are barriers.
• 81% cited empty or nonworking towel dispensers as a hurdle, while 70% mentioned poor dispenser placement.
• 97% agreed that dispenser reliability is key to hand hygiene compliance.

The data reinforced that healthcare workers must have reliable tools that are readily available to succeed, said Ronnie Phillips, senior director of innovation at GP PRO. If a dispenser is empty at a critical moment, a nurse or doctor simply does not have time to find another before helping a patient. Unreliable systems create a cascade of problems because healthcare workers are in constant contact with patients, surfaces and shared equipment. Moreover, staff members notice when leadership prioritizes compliance but neglects to put systems in place to properly support staff where and when they need it most.

In turn, Phillips and IP Missy Travis, MSN, RN, CIC, FAPIC, offered the Five Ps of hand hygiene to bridge the gap between IPs and environmental services (EVS) and help make compliance seamless:

1. Placement: Position dispensers exactly where natural clinical workflows occur, in easily visible and accessible areas.
2. Product: Ensure high-quality skincare formulations that prevent skin breakdown—a major, unspoken barrier to frequent hand hygiene.
3. Performance: Rely on well-engineered, intuitive dispenser functionality that works flawlessly every time, eliminating frustration.
4. Proactive Monitoring: Utilize smart monitoring with real-time alerts to catch empty or malfunctioning dispensers before a healthcare worker encounters them.
5. Prompt Response: Empower EVS teams to quickly fix problems, instilling greater trust and confidence in the system.

By leveraging data-driven insights like real-time alerts and cumulative analytics, facilities can boost dispenser uptime, optimize placement strategies, and ultimately reduce cross-contamination risks and hospital-associated infections across the full continuum of care, Phillips said.