Evaluation of Full-time Dispatch of a Certified Nurse in Infection Control to a Municipal Hospital

Abstract

Full-time dispatch of a Certified Nurse in Infection Control(CNIC) from one medical facility to another is uncommon in Japan. Therefore, at the end of a program in which a CNIC from a university hospital was dispatched full time to a municipal hospital for 2 years, we examined the evaluation of the dispatch program by staff of the accepting hospital. Anonymous self-report questionnaires were distributed to all 624 staff members of the hospital. Of 423 (67.8%) recovered forms, 297 obtained from staff who recognized that the dispatched CNIC was a fulltime employee were further analyzed. In total, 276 (93.9%) respondents stated that the program was beneficial for the hospital, 194 (65.3%) stated that the program was too short in duration, 286 (96.3%) stated that the program improved infection control in the hospital, and 234 (78.8%) stated that the program was helpful for their own work responsibilities. In contrast, 3 (1.0%) respondents mentioned that the program tended to interfere with their own work and 22 (7.4%) stated that it needed to be modified. We consider that the program may have contributed to improved infection control at the accepting facility. To confirm the effectiveness of the program, continuous monitoring at the accepting facility will be performed to ascertain whether the same level of infection control is maintained after the end of the program.