B4.01 - Oral Session: Knowledge Is Power: Emboldening the Infection Preventionist

Brief Abstract Summary: The New Jersey Department of Health received funding from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention to launch Project Firstline, an infection prevention and control (IPC) training collaborative to address well-established gaps in IPC practice in healthcare settings through innovative, accessible and accurate IPC education. In this session, public health professionals will hear lessons learned from The IP Exchange and the Knowledge is Power Virtual Series, a combined initiative to connect, promote, and deliver educational resources, IPC updates, and trainings tailored to Infection Preventionists (IP). Participants will discover strategies to effectively engage with IPs and to support their IPC training needs through communication tools. Participants will learn how to increase knowledge and self-efficacy to create behavioral change in a virtual environment. Lastly, participants will gain insight on best practices for program evaluation and improvement through data analysis.

Detailed abstract description: The mission of Project Firstline (PFL) is to educate frontline healthcare workers in the basics of IPC to reduce the spread of infectious disease threats. As part of a cooperative agreement with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the New Jersey Department of Health (NJDOH) and many other organizations received funding to provide trainings and additional education and tools regarding infection prevention and control (IPC) practices.

Current evidence (Creedon et al., 2024; Pintar & McAndrew, 2023; Rebmann et al., 2023) has shown that Infection Preventionists (IPs) are experiencing disconnectedness and feeling overwhelmed from rapidly changing guidance and unclear reliability of available training resources. While important guidance and updates are regularly produced, there was no centralized and accessible method to share information and to receive input from IPs in New Jersey. Therefore, The IP Exchange was developed to address this critical gap in IPC communication among IPs.

The IP Exchange was launched as a communication tool to make IPC information accessible, adaptable, and transparent. Each email blast featured timely IPC information, training opportunities, and interactive elements (e.g., polls) to engage readers and identify priority topics. From an email poll, it identified that 67% of readers’ need for virtual education on transmission-based precautions. Thus, the Knowledge is Power (K-IP) Virtual Series was created to address the needs of IPs. K-IP is a two-part virtual training series on “Contact Precautions & Enhanced Barrier Precautions” and “Droplet Precautions & Airborne Precautions” in collaboration with the NJDOH’s Infection Control Assessment & Response unit.

From February 2024 to July 2025, The IP Exchange sent 8 email blasts reaching 12,083 people with a 32% open rate. The K-IP Virtual Series was evaluated using a summative evaluation. The series was evaluated using pre and post-tests measuring self-efficacy, behavior change, and perceived knowledge gain. As of March 2025, participation in the series resulted in training 180 participants. Evaluation results from the post-evaluation feedback show 96% of participants experienced high levels of satisfaction with the presentation and presenters’ quality. Furthermore, 90% of participants indicated high levels of relevancy to their current work and 97% of participants stated they would recommend it to a colleague. Overall, 94% indicated an improved understanding of IPC principles and practices after the training with an overall 20% average knowledge gain. Ultimately, The IP Exchange and the K-IP Virtual Series has achieved success through high engagement, distribution, and feedback which highlights the importance to actively promote communication channels, evidence-based practices, and empower IPs to lead effective IPC efforts.