CHICA-Canada Chapter News - Fall 2007

	Chapter News
	CHICA Ottawa Region CHICA Vancouver Island CHICA Manitoba CHICA-TPIC Archived Chapter News

CHICA-ottawa region

Submitted by Donna Baker

Our membership remains steady at 75, with continued half-day meetings held 5 times a year.

The educational components of our meetings included “A Preview of the Core Competency Modules for Acute Care”, something members were pleased to get a look at; a report on the “Hand Hygiene Pilot Project” in progress at The Ottawa Hospital; “Feasibility of Implementing an Influenza Decision Aid to Increase Influenza Immunization Vaccine Among Healthcare Workers” presented by a research assistant from Elisabeth Bruyere Research Institute, a partnership between University of Ottawa and SCO Health Service.

During National Infection Control Week, October 15-19, as different activities were being held at individual facilities, a number of members also had the opportunity to attend a 2-day education conference on “A Healthy Environment in our Health Care Centers: A Challenge” held in Montreal on October 15-16. Very positive feedback was reported back by those who attended.

During Infection Control Week, on October 18th several members had the privilege of participating in the inaugural National Infectious Diseases Day, a collaboration of partners (AMMI Canada, CHICA-Canada, CACMID, ICID and numerous industry representatives) that succeeded in bringing attention to the need for National Strategies to control infectious diseases. Some 60 parliamentary members were met to discuss the issues facing Canada’s health care where our shared commitment to prevent, treat and control infectious diseases was stressed. There were CHICA members from across the country, the majority came from our region, where 10 infection control professionals took time away from their primary duties to assist in ensuring the messages were passed, and the day was a resounding success as per the planners’ feedback.

Many members are partaking in the Ministry and other educational opportunities via videoconferencing through our Regional Infection Control Network (CICN) or through individual institutional access through OTN. Members are very pleased with the increased availability of educational opportunities.

We held a very successful educational symposium on November 1st and 2nd with over 100 attendees at both events. November 1st focused on issues facing health care providers in the community enticing community physicians and care providers from clinics, and as such selected topics included Active and Latent Tuberculosis; Community-associated MRSA, a New Challenge for Health Practitioners; and Facts and Fiction about Influenza. November 2nd was a full day of Infection Prevention and Control topics for the health care provider on “Handling New Challenges in Infection Control” including presentations on Infection Control and Patient Safety: on the Right Track; Clinical Virology for the Front Line Healthcare Professional; Influenza Vaccination in Healthcare Workers; Regional Trends – MRSA/VRE; an interactive presentation “Take the Challenge: Infection Control Core Competencies”; and MDRO vignettes including MDR-TB, MRSA in Long Term Care, and CA-MRSA in a pediatric population. We appreciated having the interest and the support of 15 exhibitors at our full day education event.

Our Chapter has begun another CIC Study Group with 10 participants to write the exam in 2008.

CHICA VANCOUVER ISLAND

Submitted by Cathy Munford

2007 Executive:

Highlights:

• Membership: We continue to be a small but energetic group of practitioners working to support care providers. We continue to actively network with those in Community Care and other non-traditional areas who have a responsibility for Infection Prevention and Control. Benefits of CHICA membership is encouraged at each meeting.
• Meeting topics: Meetings consisted of a mix of formal and informal business. Corresponding members gave formal review of CHICA national activities and conference highlights. Members were encouraged to use the web-board section of the members’ only site to ask questions and share issues.
  
  Three of our members were able to attend the CHICA annual education conference and meeting this year. A summary review of conference was presented at the June meeting.
• Other Issues: A number of other issues were discussed at each meeting including utilization of the Webber Teleconferencing system, education for IP & CP’s, and outbreak management in variety of settings including the use of different precautions. Local issues such as TB clusters were reviewed. All members were encouraged to share success stories, useful tools, and other initiatives with each other and the Canadian Journal of Infection Control. A free membership was awarded again to the chapter with a draw for the membership given out in the fall.

CHICA MANITOBA

Submitted by Shari Szeremley

Executive 2007

Executive 2008

Number of Members: 63. All members belong to CHICA Canada.

Geographic Area Served: Manitoba & Nunavet

Membership:
Rural Manitoba Acute Care facilities: 14
Urban Manitoba Acute Care facilities: 13
Urban LTC facilities: 10
Rural LTC facilities: 8
MB Health/Public Health: 3
Occupational Health: 4
College Instructor: 1
Community Health Clinic: 4
Rehab Centre for Children: 1
Cancer Care MB: 1
Paramedic: 1
Industry rep: 2
Nunavet 1

Meetings:

The Chapter meets the second Tuesday of every month for the afternoon excluding July and August. At each meeting there is a one hour educational component followed by a two hour business meeting.

Highlights:

• Ten CHICA Manitoba members worked with facilitator Sheryl Feller on April 27, 2007 to develop a three year strategic plan for CHICA-Manitoba. The goal of the workshop was to develop a workable and realistic document to guide the Chapter into the future. CHICA-Manitoba adopted the same strategic directions that CHICA-Canada developed but tailored those strategic directions to fit the Manitoba chapter. A Mission and Vision were also developed along with ideas for action for each of the 4 strategic priorities. It was important that this document support CHICA Canada’s directions, bring rural and city ideas together, and to define our role as a group to reflect the needs of all generations in our group. The committee is currently working on 2007/2008 strategic planning goals.
• The Chapter participated in many of the Webber Teleclasses throughout the year making access available through the Riverview Health Centre.
• During National Infection Control Week, October 15th to 19th, the Community and Hospital Infection Control Association (CHICA) Manitoba Chapter, with the support of the Manitoba Institute for Patient Safety launched a provincial campaign to encourage all Manitobans to participate in achieving safer health care. An Infection Control Week campaign letter along with a media release, campaign poster, and tent cards were available through the CHICA-Manitoba website and were also distributed to all members of CHICA-Manitoba. A letter was submitted by Manitoba Health commending CHICA-Manitoba and the support of Manitoba Institute for Patient Safety for working to bring greater awareness to activities health care practitioners and the public can utilize to help prevent the spread of infections. CHICA-Manitoba struck a sub-committee to plan next year events for Infection Control Week 2008. The sub-committee will bring a draft term of reference to CHICA-Manitoba in January, 2008 for review.

Educational Presentations at Monthly Meetings:

The following presentations were given to the membership:

• "Team Dynamics; To be or Not to be Accountable" by Shirley Layne
• "TB Prevention and Control; New Challenges" from Envision
• "Roberts Rules" - video
• "Blood Stream Infections" BD Lunch and Learn

Retreat Day:

September 21st a “members only” retreat day was held at Niakwa Country Club. Speakers included Dr. P.Lagace-Wiens, who spoke on “Meningitis 101”, Janis Kennedy who spoke on “Bug Thugs in Hard Hats; Infection Control and Construction”, Dr. F. Aoki, who spoke on “Herpes Simplex Virus Explained”, Dr. C. Smith, who spoke on “Understanding STI’s” and the day was wrapped up with “Pilates for the Workplace” with Tamara Pound and Sam Manchlenko.

CHICA National Conference:

Members Maureen Matthews, Jen Tomlinson, Karen Retha, Brenda Dyck, Molly Blake, Genevieve Thompson, Krista Maxwell, Gloria Campbell, Shari Szeremley, Judi Linden, Monique Liarakos, Janet Dyck, Brenda Kline, and Rhonda Pfeiffer attended the 2007 CHICA National Conference in Edmonton, Alberta.

CHICA Manitoba Chapter Conference:

The CHICA Manitoba Chapter one day conference “The Bug Stops Here! Your Role in Infection Control” was held on June 1 at the Greenwood Inn & Suites with over 100 participants. Speakers included Dr. William Libich, who spoke on “Tuberculosis Management”. Carol Yackichuk & Mary Bertone, Oral Health Promotion Specialists who spoke on “Oral Hygiene for Infection Control”, Dr, Pierre Plourde, MOH, WRHA, spoke on “Small Round Enteric Virus” Liz Omeniuk, Instructor, Microbiology, RRC,“Interpreting Microbiology Reports”, and finished the day with “Isolation Violations”, CHICA MB
“Bug Ladies” ensemble.

Donations:
Membership supported the IFIC Run for Fun held at the CHICA CA Conference. Three members participated in the run.

CBIC:
The study group lost 2 members and is now down to 6 members. Two are expecting to write in 2007 with the remainder to write in 2008.

CHICA TPIC

Submitted by Seema Boodoosingh

Geographic Area Served: Greater Toronto Area (GTA) bounded by Mississauga (West), Barrie (North), and Oshawa (East).

Membership: TPIC continues to support and recruit individuals, primarily ICPs from acute care, long term care and rehab, community care, public health and industry. There has been an increase in industry interest and membership. A needs assessment was sent out to chapter members to determine how best we can meet the needs of our members as we do have a diversified group. The results will be summarized for 2008 and presented to the membership.

Meetings: Seven meetings were held in 2005:
Jan 16, Feb 20, April 24, June 19 (summer get together/barbecue), Sept 18, Oct 30 and Dec 4 (including our Christmas social)

Standard meeting format:
Committee Meetings 0900-1000 (Executive, Education, Marketing, Construction)
Business Meeting 1000-1100 (includes any CHICA committee members present)
Networking 1100-1200
Lunch (informal networking) 1200-1300
Education Session 1300-1600

2007 Highlights
2007 was a busy year for the Chapter and an especially rewarding year for TPIC. Chapter members have been actively involved in many hospital, local, regional and provincial initiatives. At the hospital level members have been involved in the implementation of the Safer Health Care Now!. Many facilities are still trying to incorporate all the processes involved. In order to facilitate members supporting each other and sharing ideas, a portion of the networking time is dedicated to questions and discussion regarding these bundles. TPIC members were asked to present at a variety education days that were in part also organized by chapter members. At the local level several members participated in a coordinated effort between academic teaching institutions to work together to develop a pandemic influenza plan. Members continue to provide instruction and mentorship to the Centennial College Infection Control course and a couple of TPIC members participate in the Registered Nurses Foundation of Ontario’s selection panel for the SARS Fund. TPIC’s LTC interest group in conjunction with Toronto Public Health and the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care (MOHLTC) held its annual Long Term Care Infection Control Education Day to continued success. TPIC voted to donate a CHICA/TPIC membership as a raffle prize at this year’s education day. One of the most engaging initiatives this year has been the Regional Infection Control Networks (RICN). Many members have been actively involved in the planning committees and continuing to work within the Steering Committees of several RICN in the Southern Ontario area. A few of the TPIC members have taken the Network Coordinator positions and some members have been working with the RICN as Regional Educator. The planning coordinators of the Central Regional Infection Control Network specifically requested TPIC’s involvement, especially the LTC interest group. The application for funding has been awarded but there is still no decision with respect to posting the position for the Toronto RICN coordinator. At the provincial level TPIC members continue to participate in the Provincial Infectious Diseases Advisory Committee (PIDAC) and work within the MOHLTC providing input on many best practice guidelines. Many members have been involved in setting up venues for Core Competency Workshops in Infection Control offered by the MOH. A few members of TPIC are involved at the places of employment in a new MOHLTC Hand Hygiene pilot program. A member of TPIC also provides input through Infection Control Ontario on Ontario Hospital Association education days. TPIC has a member that represents CHICA at the International Federation of Infection Control (IFIC) as well as the International Advisory Committee for the 26th of Chemotherapy and Infection.

This year was rewarding for TPIC because at the CHICA Conference TPIC was awarded the CIBC Chapter Award. There were quite a few members able to attend this year conference in Edmonton, Alberta. It was very rewarding for our TPIC members this year as one member won 1st place for best poster at APIC and another member representing both CHICA and TPIC won 2nd prize at the IFIC conference in Budapest.

Interest Group Reports

Education

CHICA-TPIC Healthcare Facility Design and Construction Interest Group 2006 Update

October 29, 2007
Co-Chairs – Karen Stockton and Barbara Shea
Toronto and Area Practitioners in Infection Control (TPIC)

Summary of events in the Construction interest Group for 2007:

1. Maja McGuire compiled the results of her Construction Interest Group survey distributed in 2006. Results were presented at the June 2007 meeting in Edmonton (Maja to send separately to CHICA with minutes of the June meeting).

2. A large group attended the June meeting in Edmonton and a great deal of interest was expressed by the group in developing a toolkit for infection control professionals who have not had the opportunity to learn a great deal about construction. The Construction interest group will be working to develop this toolkit over the next year.

3. The TPIC chapter with the help of the Construction Committee and other chapters of CHICA have drafted a position statement on Healthcare Facility Design and Construction and will be submitting it to the Standards and Guidelines Committee for review in November 2007.

4. At the June meeting in Edmonton, Maja McGuire (past Chair of the Construction Interest Group) passed on her position to two people to co-chair for the next 2 year term. Karen Stockton and Barbara Shea will be co-chairing the committee for the next two years.

5. Canadian Standards Association has embarked on the development of a standard for Design and Construction of Canadian Healthcare Facilities. CHICA has put forward two members as representatives on this committee: Karen Stockton (Toronto) and Sharon Wilson (Edmonton). It is anticipated that this document will take 3 years to complete. Please see the report from the CHICA representatives for further information on this standard. Next meeting for CSA technical subcommittee is in February 2008.

CHICA TPIC Marketing Committee Activity Report for 2007:

1. Chair responsibility has been divided into two co-chairs - Jayvee Guerrero and Teri Murduff

2. Ongoing review and update of committee policies and responsibilities

3. Ongoing Web Portal review for changes to content, server and site sponsorship

4. Exploring other committee and membership needs for web portal-look and content-questions submitted to Executive to be sent as part of chapter needs assessment

5. Participated in organizing industry sponsorship for the North York LTC Education Day Oct 11-invitationletters sent to 16 industry reps with 4 industries participating with information booths

6. Explored various ways to promote Infection Control Week-contacted radio station in Toronto however response not received. Suggestions for Hospital News and other media venues with the assistance of Public Health media contacts unrealized for this year however have been recognized as potential sources for next year.

7. New member package being reviewed focusing on the challenges of recruitment of LTC ICPs and what CHICA and TPIC can offer to them.

Long Term Care Group

The LTC Group meets four times a year using teleconference. This method has allowed some sites to include several participants in the discussions. Topics covered are outbreaks, AROs, and influenza
vaccination for staff and patients. Members use the meetings to network and get feedback on any other issues.