Effects of infectious disease outbreaks and exposures on the workload of infection preventionists and nurses

Abstract

Background: Staff nurses and infection preventionists (IPs) face significant increases in workload when responding to infectious exposures and outbreaks in healthcare settings. Understanding the time burden associated with these events is crucial for improving resource allocation and supporting these critical roles.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the workload increases reported by nurses and IPs in response to common exposures and outbreaks of infectious agents.

Methods:  Surveys were distributed to nurses in a hospital network and to IPs attending professional conferences or belonging to local chapters. Respondents rated their daily workload increase and ranked the most time-consuming activities for various exposure and outbreak scenarios.

Results: A total of 150 nurses and 228 IPs responded. Over 60-minute workload increases were reported by nurses for Clostridium difficile (76%), lice/scabies (46%), and influenza (45%), and by IPs for mumps/measles (66%), tuberculosis (64%), and C. difficile (50%). Nurses identified isolation precautions, patient/family education, and staffing changes as the most time-consuming, while IPs focused on chart review, exposure list compilation, and preventive measures.

Conclusions:Infectious exposures and outbreaks can significantly increase the workload for both nurses and IPs, with notable differences in their perceptions and time allocation. These findings highlight the need for healthcare administrators to carefully plan and allocate resources to support these critical roles during such events, and for improved interdisciplinary collaboration to enhance infection prevention and control efforts.