Health care personnel immunization programs: an assessment of knowledge and practice among infection preventionists in US health care facilities.

BACKGROUND

Guidelines exist that recommend specific vaccines for health care personnel and supporting documents provide guidance for program development and implementation, but the extent to which those guidelines have been implemented in health care personnel immunization programs has not been fully explored. This project aimed to evaluate current practices in US health care facilities concerning health care personnel immunization programs.

METHODS

A Web-based survey was deployed to 13,670 infection preventionists to assess 5 major program areas: (1) immunization program management; (2) vaccines provided to health care personnel; (3) vaccine handling practices; (4) training provided for the individual(s) responsible for the program; and (5) quality indicators for the program. A scoring scale was developed that demonstrated an overall measure of program performance.

RESULTS

The Web-based survey resulted in 1,006 completed responses. When assessing overall program performance, the median vaccine program score was 47.6%. Respondents certified in infection prevention (CIC) scored significantly higher in overall program performance than respondents not certified (54% vs, 43%, respectively, P = .003).

CONCLUSION

Results of the survey have identified a number of education and training opportunities that can be addressed by professional associations using available evidence-based and proven implementation materials as resource documents.