Competency of Infection Preventionists in Japan

Backgrounds: In the United States, the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) announced a competency model for infection preventionists (IP) in 2011. On the other hand, IPs in Japan must develop their career by themselves because there are no guidelines of career development for Japanese IPs. In recent years, infectious diseases and infection control issues have become more global. Objective: Aiming for international collaboration among IPs, the purpose of this study were to clarify the actual competencies of IPs in Japan and the United States and to compare the competencies of both. We report on the competencies of IPs in Japan. Methods: Semistructured interviews were conducted with 67 certified nurses in infection control (CNIC) who responded to the translated version of the APIC Competency Model Assessment Tool. From the qualitative descriptive analysis of interview verbatim records, we extracted the behavioral characteristics and completed the questionnaire “Survey of Competency for Infection Preventionist,” which consisted of 130 items. A survey form was created using Survey Monkey. We sent e-mails to ask anonymous survey collaboration, including the URL of the survey form, to 2,284 CNIC and CNS in infection control professionals. The research was approved by the research ethics committee at the facility to which the researcher belongs (Juntendo University, approval no. 30–49). Results: The number of responses was 648 and the response rate was 28.4%. The mean years of experience as nurses of 648 respondents was 24.7 (SD, 6.9), and >60% belonged to general hospitals. The scores of mean and standard deviation of each category were as follows: “Clarification of infectious disease process” (mean, 79.1; SD, 13.2); “HAI surveillance and epidemiological survey” (mean, 49.3; SD, 12.3); “Prevention and control of transmission of infectious microorganisms” (mean, 93.8; SD, 17.3); “Management and communication” (mean, 128.5; SD, 23.7); “Education and Research” (mean, 56.8; SD, 11.0); “Employee and occupational health” (mean, 40.6; SD, 9.6); and the total score of all categories (mean, 449.4; SD, 74.4). Based on years of experience as infection preventionists, we divided them into 3 groups: beginners, competent, and experts. As the career level increased, each category score for competency increased (ANOVA, P < .001). However, the mean scores of competency did not reach 70% of the total score for the following categories: “Prevention and control of transmission of infectious microorganisms.” “Education and research,” and “Employee and occupational health.” Conclusions: The competencies that need to be strengthened for the career development of Japanese IPs have been clarified.Funding: This study was supported by JSPS KAKENHI.Disclosures: None