Can a staffing calculator really revolutionize Infection Prevention and Control? Join us for podcast number 43, where we dive into the world of infection prevention staffing and debunk myths with our expert guests, Dr. Becca Bartles and Dr. Sara Reese. Discover how this innovative calculator changes staffing dynamics and significantly reduces infection rates in hospitals. Listen in and find out how this invention challenges the old staffing ratio and successfully incorporates varying hospital aspects within infection prevention. Are you ready to upgrade your staffing model with us?

Guests:

  1. Rebecca (Becca) Bartles, DrPH, MPH, CIC, FAPIC, Executive Director, APIC’s Center for Research, Practice, and Innovation
  2. Sara Reese, PhD, MPH, CIC, FAPIC, Director of Research, APIC’s Center for Research, Practice, and Innovation

Article: https://www.ajicjournal.org/article/S0196-6553(24)00697-7/fulltext

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Rebecca (Becca) Bartles, DrPH, MPH, CIC, FAPIC

Rebecca (Becca) Bartles, DrPH, MPH, CIC, FAPIC, is the Executive Director of APIC’s Center for Research, Practice, and Innovation. Previously, Dr. Bartles came from Providence Health in Washington, where she served as Executive Director of Infectious Disease Management and Prevention for eight years. Additionally, Becca has practiced Infection Prevention and Infectious Disease Epidemiology for the last 19 years in various healthcare settings and has numerous publications focused on infection prevention staffing and endoscope safety. Dr. Bartles founded the Master in Infection Prevention degree program at the University of Providence in 2016. She has been CIC-certified since 2008 and is an APIC fellow. As a leader in infection prevention, Dr. Bartles has helped develop APIC’s Infection Preventionist Academic Pathway program to establish IPC degrees at the undergraduate and master’s levels and led the creation of an IP staffing calculator for healthcare facilities. Most notably, Becca is the mother of four amazing daughters, ages 10-25.

Sara Reese, PhD, MPH, CIC, FAPIC

Sara Reese, PhD, MPH, CIC, FAPIC, has newly been appointed as the Director of Research for APIC’s Center for Research, Practice, and Innovation. Previously, Dr. Reese served as Regional Director of Infection Prevention at Intermountain Health and as Infection Prevention Manager at Swedish Medical Center, where she led COVID-19 response efforts and reduced healthcare-associated infections. She has also held infection prevention roles at Denver Health and the Colorado Department of Public Health and mentored numerous MPH students. Dr. Reese has published widely and presented nationally on infection prevention, most recently addressing recruitment and retention challenges in the field.