Experience of Infection Preventionists During the First Wave of COVID-19 Outside of China

BACKGROUND: Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) progressed to a full-fledged outbreak, primarily in New York City in March 2020. The goal of this project was to document the impact and experiences of COVID-19 on Infection Preventionists (IPs) in real time. METHODS: A weekly link to a Google survey for IPs about the COVID-19 experience was posted on social media started on March 8, 2020. Contacts of the authors and survey participants were emailed links to all subsequent surveys. Based on participant feedback, the survey was semi-monthly from May 15 - -July 15. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze quantitative data, thematic analysis was used for qualitative data. Participation was voluntary and no Institutional Review Board review was sought. RESULTS: Fifty-two individuals completed 154 surveys over 14 survey rounds. Forty-two percent completed 1 survey, and 4% completed 11. Sixteen US states and 4 countries were represented. Most participants worked in Acute care. Respondents worked significant overtime in March (mean 68 hours/week) and April (mean 51 hours/week) and observed decreases in COVID-19 patient census in the first half of May. Themes that emerged from qualitative analysis were basic IP practices and personal protective equipment shortages. Overall, IPs reported high stress early in study, with emotional exhaustion peaking at the end of the study. IPs reported more empowerment, credibility, and value to their facilities during the pandemic. CONCLUSIONS: IPs are specialized healthcare workers at the heart of managing this pandemic. IPs predictably worked long hours, were concerned about PPE and basics of infection prevention that are critical to keeping staff safe. They also reported that the impact of COVID-19 on the IP role was largely positive.