Still learning, After All These Years

After almost 30 years of covering infection prevention and control (and about 40 years of working in media, publishing, and continuing education), I’ve come to believe that the most important thing a journalist in this space can do is keep learning. This fall, I put that belief into practice by completing the Association for the Healthcare Environment (AHE)’s Certificate of Mastery in Infection Prevention (CMIP) program, and I’m pleased to share that I’ve earned the credential. You can have academic degrees, but there’s something extra sweet about earning your first professional credential on top of the journalism-driven schooling pursued decades previously.

I didn’t pursue it to change what I do. I pursued it to do it better. For nearly three decades, I’ve had the privilege of interviewing infection preventionists, healthcare epidemiologists, environmental services professionals, frontline clinicians, public health authorities, accreditors, regulators, and manufacturers, and the honor of translating their work for the professional audience. Along the way, I’ve absorbed a great deal. But there’s a difference between reporting on a discipline and sitting in the learner’s seat: working through the coursework, taking the quizzes, participating in the discussions, and having my thinking challenged by facilitators and fellow participants. It was humbling in the best way, and it gave me a deeper appreciation for the knowledge and judgment that infection preventionists of all stripes bring to their work every day.

Broadly, my capstone work for this credential focused on a subject regular readers know is close to my heart: the role of environmental services in infection prevention, and how EVS expertise can be better reflected in the guidance and tools that shape daily practice. That work reinforced something I’ve long believed: progress happens when every discipline involved in patient safety has a voice at the table. I want to acknowledge the Environmental Services Optimization Project (EvSOP) for its financial support of my attendance and for being the launching pad for an evolution of my thinking about how infection prevention and environmental services are two sides of the same coin and the need to spend that currency wisely in today’s complex healthcare landscape especially. I look forward to putting to use both new-found knowledge and improved critical thinking skills around the IPC and EVS dynamic.

What this means for Healthcare Hygiene magazine is simple. I intend to put what I’ve learned back into these pages. You can expect coverage that continues to dig deeper into the evidence, asks sharper questions of the guidance we all rely on, and continues to connect the dots between infection prevention, environmental hygiene, and the people who make both work. Our continuing education offerings will benefit as well.

I’m grateful to the instructors, facilitators, and peers who made the program worthwhile, and to you, our readers and contributors as well as clinical experts, who have taught me more over the years than any course could. This credential is less a milestone than a renewed commitment to serving this community well.

APIC’s a-IPC credential program, I’m coming for you next!