Infection Prevention and Control

Project Management and Education

Leadership is an important part of a successful IPC programme. In this module, we will explore the project management process and adult-based education for IPC. These skills can affect positive change in an IPC team, other leaders, and healthcare staff and lead to sustainable IPC programmes. In order to develop a sustainable programme, IPC leaders must have good project management and risk assessment skills. We will also learn the importance of developing adequate education and training for health care workers in your facility. Implementing systemic changes is a challenge. With these leadership skills in place, you will gain a foundation that will allow you to build an effective IPC team, successfully manage IPC projects, and develop a sustainable IPC programme.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this module, you will be able to:

  • Explain how project management skills apply to developing a strong IPC programme.
  • Identify and categorize risk and risk management strategies as they apply to your IPC projects.
  • Apply adult learning theories to how you can approach education and training of healthcare workers in your facility.

Learning Activities

  • The Importance of Process (5 min)

    In this Everyday Leadership video, Girija Vaidyanathan emphasizes the importance of strong adherence to processes. She believes following the processes in place leads to improvement of the outcomes desired. Think about how you can apply this approach to your understanding of project management.

  • Project Management (5 min)

    As an IPC focal person it is important for you to understand the value of project management in supporting the implementation of your IPC programmes. Leadership impacts the success of projects, and effective project management supports a leader in getting things done. Applying principles of good project management will help your IPC programme be more successful.

    A project is a coordinated and controlled activity undertaken to achieve an objective. It is built with start and finish dates and clear roles and tasks. Projects must conform to specific requirements including time constraints, cost, quality, and resources. Projects should be delivered on time, on budget, and with a determined level of quality. Successful projects have start and end dates and milestones. Without clear timelines, there’s a risk of missing deadlines and not meeting goals or targets.

    Sometimes, many people will need to collaborate on a project. Project management is about teamwork, being efficient with the resources available, and getting the right people for the job. If roles are not clearly defined, the project may not succeed.

    Remember, IPC is one piece of a larger puzzle. Delivering a project on time could be critical in terms of the bigger picture—for example, you may have to work with colleagues who have different timelines than your project. You should be familiar with standard project management terminology and approaches, and recognize critical stages and risks in managing projects.

    Coordination of activities involves excellent planning and communication and a clear overall vision. To review these soft skills, refer back to the module in this course called “Leadership Skills”. If you do not communicate the ultimate project goal, it is difficult to ensure everyone will come on board and work effectively.

    At the heart of project management is communication and teamwork. As a leader, it is your duty to make sure that your team agrees to the timelines that you have proposed. You must consider budget and resource needs. Are there enough people and supplies to carry out an intervention in the time allotted? In addition to carrying out the intervention, you must establish monitoring mechanisms for prompt and accurate feedback. You should be able to assess what could cause risk to the success of the project and to analyse its effectiveness. Managing projects requires attention to detail and understanding of the bigger picture, such as how IPC relates to the broader health care agenda.

  • Key Phases of Project Management (15 min)

    Now that we understand how the combination of strong leadership and project management skills can help you to develop programmes that make an impact, let’s take a closer look at the phases of a project. Click or tap each circle in the graphic to learn more.

    map
    Phase 1a Phase 1b Phase 1c Phase 2a Phase 2b Phase 2c Phase 3a Phase 3b
    1a Establish the Project Statement

    The first phase is to establish what needs to be done. Consider the purpose of the project and align what needs to be done with why it needs to be done. By understanding and being able to communicate the origin of the problem, you will better be able to determine the best solution. In this phase, you should also identify the ideal start and end dates. It’s also important to define the scope, or boundaries, of the project.

    1b Define the Project's Goal, Objectives, and Indicators

    In this phase you will define the goal of your project based on the problem identified in phase 1A. You should think about how this project will impact your facility in a wider context and support IPC improvement.

    This is also the time to consider the outcomes, or objectives, of the project. When defining objectives, make sure they are “SMART”:

    • Specific – be descriptive and detailed about what needs to be done
    • Measurable – have an observable impact that can be measured
    • Actionable – think of how what needs to be done will be achieved in practice – what actions need to be taken?
    • Realistic – ensure these actions can be achieved in a reasonable fashion considering constraints
    • Time-specific – detail when the actions should start and be completed

    Each objective should have a measurable outcome.

    Last, this phase should identify the indicators of successful completion. Define what indicators will show whether an outcome has been achieved. For instance, an indicator could be a change in behavior, or an indicator could be a measurable increase or decrease of a specific factor e.g. an increase in adherence with safe disposal of sharps by health care workers. These indicators should relate directly to your SMART objectives.

    1c Outline the Main Steps Required to Achieve the Objectives

    Determine and list the main steps or activities required in order to meet these objectives. Each individual step should support an objective, with clear indicators for success.

    2a Develop the Work Breakdown Structure

    A work breakdown structure (WBS) is simply the full list of tasks for each objective. Each objective from Phase 1 B is broken down into the steps from Phase 1 C. In this phase we break each of those steps down into the specific tasks that are required to complete each step for each objective. The level of which each step or task is broken down depends on the depth of the project. Make sure that each task aligns with the overall project objective. Be sure to think about the resources assigned to each task. Summarize and document each of these tasks as they relate to your objectives.

    2b Sequence the Activities and Set Timelines

    In this phase, consider the order in which each task or activity must be completed. This will help you to determine timelines for each objective. Consider the dependencies involved with the completion of each task. If a task cannot be started until another is completed, sequence these tasks accordingly. Some tasks or activities may overlap. Document the sequence of each task, making sure to be clear about dependencies, and indicate where tasks may overlap.

    Dependency: If task A (local production of alcohol based hand rub) cannot start until task B (purchase of 96% ethanol) has occurred, then task A is dependent on task B being completed.

    When creating a timeline, in addition to the start and end dates, include milestones (or indicators of success). Milestones are key events that measure the progress of a project. Summarize and document these milestones into your sequence of steps and estimated timelines.

    2c Allocate Resources

    It is important to identify the resources (such as staff and supplies) required for each task. The people involved in your project must understand their roles and responsibilities for each task and objective. In addition, resources are dependent upon cost. Estimate the cost of each activity and define a budget that includes the financial contributors and stakeholders.

    3a Implement and Monitor the Project

    By this phase the team has agreed upon your plan and is ready to complete activities and tasks to meet goals and objectives. As the project manager, it is your job to keep track of indicators and milestones as the project progresses. Regularly monitor progress by checking in with your team, make sure tasks are completed on time, milestones are met, quality standards are maintained, and that the project is staying within the budget allocated. The team should meet regularly to discuss any problems or issues that come up. If the project begins to go off track, identify the reasons why and work with your team to analyze the situation and move forward. Update the project plan regularly and communicate changes with relevant parties.

    3b Report and Evaluate the Project

    Develop a regular project report to communicate the details and progress to relevant stakeholders and management groups. Your report should focus on the milestones you have met and how much of the budget has been spent so far. Include any changes or revisions to the project scope, documenting the reasons for this change.

    When evaluating the project, use your indicators to measure success.

  • Joan’s Project Management Problem (5 min)

    Consider Joan and her plan to implement better sharps safety practices in her facility. Let’s imagine that after a year of trying to bring awareness to the staff, her project has failed due to poor project management. Let’s consider taking a look at Joan’s project through the lens of the key phases of project management.

    Joan’s project statement:

    “Improve the quality of sharps safety in this facility.”

    1What is missing from this project statement? (Check all that apply)

    2Of the following list of objectives, which is a SMART objective?

    3After Joan has identified the project objectives, what is her next immediate step according to the phases of project management?

    4Fill in the blank

    are key events that measure the progress of a project.

  • Identifying Risk (15 min)

    A detailed project plan is essential to good project management. However, no project is immune to risk. It is important to identify risk when considering how a project will be carried out. Risk can be defined as: “An uncertain event or condition that, if it occurs, has a positive or negative effect on a project objective”. Whether or not you’ve taken the time to assess the risk associated with your project will determine the degree to which it is successful. Click or tap each tab in the process to see how you can identify and manage risk.

    Identifying Risk
    1. Define project risk categories

      Every possible aspect of a project from start to finish can involve risk. From budgets, to resources, to the context of the project, and even interpersonal or political elements make it imperative to see all sides of your project to identify possible trouble areas. Risk categories will help you to pinpoint where trouble areas may occur. Below is a list of examples of risk categories and corresponding elements that may affect a project.

      • Legal and regulatory
        • New or changed legislation including policies and guidelines that threaten the rationale for the project e.g. a project to improve wound care that does not take account of new evidence based international guidelines.
        • Failure to obtain appropriate management approval (e.g. when developing project plans make sure to obtain managerial consent).
      • Organizational/management/relationship factors
        • Poor leadership
        • Inadequate authority of key personnel to fulfill the roles and actions that the project needs
        • Poor staff selection procedures—the project team are not competent to undertake needed actions
        • Lack of clarity over roles and responsibilities
        • Personality clashes
        • Lack of operational support
        • Changes in institutional priorities
      • Political
        • Change of government or government policies
        • War and disorder
        • Adverse public opinion e.g. local community groups do not buy into the project/media intervention e.g. local radio and newspaper are hostile to the planned IPC improvement
        • Interference by politicians in planned decisions
      • Technical/operational/infrastructure
        • Inadequate project design
        • Unclear expectations—specifically, when SMART objectives are not used
      • Project Management Risk
        • Lack of planning, risk analysis, contingencies
        • Inadequate tracking
        • Unrealistic schedules
        • Poorly managed logistics
        • Delays in the approval of project documents
    2. Identify specific risks

      Using the risk categories as a guide, you are now able to document specific risks as they relate to your categories and project objectives. When you document what the risks to your project are, consider these three factors.

      • What is the origin or cause of the risk?
      • What is the risk itself?
      • How does this risk impact the project?

    Risk identification is an ongoing process. Problems may arise as a project progresses and it is important for your IPC team to communicate when they identify the potential for risk. Risk may look different as the project progresses than it did at the planning stages. This is why monitoring a project and communication is so important to project management.

    Prioritizing and Ranking Risk

    Once risks are identified, prioritize them based on their impact and probability. Use criteria agreed upon by your team and stakeholders to help with prioritization. From this list of prioritized risk, rank these risks by potential impact on a scale of low, medium, and high. For example – if you are working on a project to introduce a surveillance system using smart phones provided by a local NGO, one risk is that the NGO withdraws its programme from your country. Although you may be confident that the probability of this happening is low, if it were to happen the negative impact on the project would be high. This should be logged as a risk. Communicating these risks to the parties involved will keep everyone aware of possible issues to try to avoid.

    Risk Management

    While it seems ideal, it is not realistic to assume that you will be able to eliminate all risks in a project. Your goal is to recognize the ability of your team to respond to the risks you’ve identified. Keep in mind that a project can withstand a certain level of risk. It is your job to decide whether that risk will impact your project to the degree that will keep you from achieving project objectives.

    The following are response strategies to consider for different levels of risk. Consider one or a combination of responses for your project:

    • Risk Avoidance

      You may choose not to perform a task or activities that have a high probability and high impact risk.

      Example: You are asked whether your IPC team would like to receive a donation from a development partner overseas for a state of the art sterilizer, however the partner is not able to provide training or funding for ongoing maintenance and there is currently no one in your country with the skills to operate the equipment. After discussion with the IPC committee, you agree this is a high probability and high impact risk and decide to refuse the donation.

    • Risk Transference

      You may choose to shift or share the responsibilities of a task or activity between team members or a third party.

      Example: You are under pressure to develop IPC guidelines but at present do not have the expertise to do this. You are aware that colleagues working in other districts have set up an IPC network to focus on things like guideline development. So, you seek permission to join the network and share the responsibility for guideline development with the network.

    • Risk Reduction/Mitigation

      You may choose a course of action that lowers the impact of the risk.

      Example: Your hospital managers are encouraging the hospital pharmacy to produce alcohol based hand rub using the WHO formulation. The pharmacist is concerned that this presents a risk since there are not enough staff trained to safely undertake this. The pharmacist talks to the hospital manager and seeks permission to train a junior member of staff solely for this task in order to reduce the risks.

    • Risk Acceptance

      You may choose not to take action if the perceived probability and impact of a risk is low.

      Example: You know that reminder posters for hand hygiene improvement should be regularly refreshed throughout the hospital wards (as part of a multimodal strategy) and note that many of the posters have been in place for many months. However, at present given multiple competing priorities you do not have the resources to develop or source new posters. The probability and impact are low and so you accept the risk at the present time, with a plan to revisit this in the future.

    Simply ignoring risk is not a responsible strategy. Even when choosing avoidance or acceptance, you are actively choosing to make a management call. This communicates to your team how different risks will be managed. You can support these decisions with the risk assessment you’ve created throughout this process.

    You and your team will need to make an action plan for risk response. Document these factors:

    • Identify your response and develop a plan to address the risk.
    • Define how you will implement this response with appropriate tasks.
    • Decide which resources will be necessary to carry out this response.
    Monitor & Review

    Risk management is ongoing. Just as it is important to monitor the progress of your project, it is equally important to monitor the impact of risk. Risk is a dynamic element, meaning it can change over time. Regularly scheduled risk management reviews can keep your project on track and keep you from being surprised when new issues arise. If new or unexpected issues do arise, it may be necessary to reconsider the risk response strategy you had planned.

  • Establishing Required Resources (10 min)

    In the role of project manager, you must learn the art of managing human resources. Leadership involves the mastery of soft skills that influence the success of a project. These skills may pertain specifically to managing interpersonal relationships within a team. As the IPC focal person, and as a leader, in addition to developing an effective project plan, you are expected to motivate others, manage conflict, and build morale. Therefore, coordinating human resources is an integral part of creating a project plan. The following is a list of human resources components to consider:

    • Acquiring Project Staff

      You must identify, interview, and develop selection criteria for potential project staff who will support your IPC projects. Have a clear idea of what skills are needed to carry out the IPC project.

    • Identifying Project Staff Assignments

      Once your staff is selected, you must assign duties, roles, and responsibilities to each team member. You will use these assignments to monitor and control the progress of your project.

    • Documenting Project Organization Charts

      Organisational charts communicate each team member’s reporting relationship to one another. This documentation allows for clear communication of staff roles.

    • Developing Project Staff

      You have identified what skills are needed to carry out a successful IPC project. However, it may not be possible for all staff members to have already acquired those skills. Consider that training may be necessary—additional skills are typically required of everyone in a project. Be supportive in the development of your team members.

    • Conducting Performance Assessments

      A good way to assess the effectiveness of your team is to conduct formal or informal performance assessments for each member. This will help you identify problems, resolve conflicts, and improve the team overall.

    • Promoting a Highly Productive Team Environment

      Conflicts and roadblocks will arise when developing a project. Model a positive and productive attitude by actively working to resolve these issues.

    While much of project management is considered a science, the management of human resources can be considered an art form. The skills involved with managing the attitudes and behaviours of others can create an environment that is either productive or unproductive. This means that your leadership skills will impact the success of your project, which will in turn impact the success of the IPC programme in your facility.

  • Project Management (5 min)

    1The acronym SMART can be used to develop project objectives. Using the drop down lists, match each definition to each word.

    2A work breakdown structure identifies the roles and responsibilities for each team member.

    3Sequencing relevant tasks and activities will help determine:

    4Risk does not change over time.

    5Fill in the blank

    help you identify problems, resolve conflicts, and improve the team overall.

  • Real-World Learning (5 min)

    A key part of your role as an IPC focal person is to use multimodal strategies to support adherence with guidelines and the associated behavior change to improve patient outcomes. Training on IPC guidelines is one important part of a multimodal strategy. Before we discuss some best practices for training, take a moment to reflect on a recent training, course, or workshop you attended.

    In a notebook, or with a partner, think of a recent learning experience and answer the following questions:

    1. List 2-3 aims and outcomes of the course or workshop. Did you learn the aims/outcomes you listed?
    2. Which methods helped you learn the most?
    3. In what ways were you assessed to show that you learned those aims and outcomes?
    4. How would you evaluate this experience? (1 being “not satisfied” and 5 being “very satisfied”).
    5. How could that experience have been improved?
    6. What feedback did you receive during the course?
  • Principles of Adult Learning (10 min)

    When developing effective training methods it is important to start with the educational aims. Clear aims will help to identify the most pertinent learning outcomes. After you determine what the objectives are, use learning methods (such as instructional videos, readings, or mini quizzes) that will aid in reaching those outcomes. Use assessment methods that address the variety of outcomes that learners need to meet, and challenge the learner to apply their knowledge. When using assessments, use criteria that are fair and offer routes for improvement.

    In 1984 American educationalist theorist David Kolb2 suggested that adults learn through ‘experiences’ and ‘doing’. He developed a principle that included four different, sequential stages.

    Training and education are one important part of behaviour change, however it’s important to understand that on its own training is not enough and may not result in the desired change in behaviour. This is why a multimodal approach to behavior change is recommended across all IPC programmes.Click or tap each blue box to learn more about each of Kolb’s learning stages.

    map
    learning_theory learning_theory learning_theory learning_theory
    Concrete Experience

    Learning starts with getting actively involved in a task or project. Learning is therefore a product of doing. When you learn about urinary catheterization, you will observe the procedure in a classroom. Later on, you will be asked to perform the procedure.

    Reflective Observation

    This second stage entails thinking about what has been experienced and gathering information from that experience. After observing urinary catheterization you may be asked to reflect on what you experienced in the classroom or at the bedside.

    Abstract Conceptualization

    After reflecting on the concepts they've learned, in stage three learners connect these reflections to their own experiences.

    Active Experimentation

    Finally, the new knowledge is integrated in the existing skills and context of the learner. When you’ve gained confidence with a simulation model, you are ready to catheterize real life patients.

  • Learning Modalities (5 min)

    When training health workers, you can use Kolb’s learning stages to craft learning experiences or activities. Each modality supports the function of the stage of learning. For instance if your learners are in the active experimentation stage of learning, you may give them a task to complete in the field (fieldwork), or have them analyze a case study. Click or tap each blue rectangle to see a short list of examples for each stage.

    map
    learning_theory learning_theory learning_theory learning_theory
    Concrete Experience
    • Readings
    • Fieldwork
    • Laboratories
    • Observations
    • Simulations
    • Games

    Example: Observing the insertion of a urinary catheter.

    Reflective Observation
    • Journals
    • Discussions
    • Brainstorming

    Example: Peer to peer discussion following the conclusion of an outbreak of a diarrhoeal disease.

    Abstract Conceptualization
    • Lecture
    • Papers
    • Projects
    • Models

    Example: Attending a lecture to learn how your facility could implement new guidelines.

    Active Experimentation
    • Projects
    • Fieldwork
    • Homework
    • Case Study
    • Simulations

    Example: Participating in a simulation exercise to learn how to insert an IV cannula.

  • Training Approaches (10 min)

    There are many approaches to IPC training and education. Click or tap each tab to learn more.

    Large group Teaching

    Large group settings work best when many people need the same information at the same time, but don’t need to gain a new skill or adopt a new attitude.

    An advantage to large group teaching is that it enables you to emphasise essential concepts that learners can later explore independently.

    However, maintaining the attention of all participants could prove challenging. It is difficult to keep learners active and some participants may be uncomfortable asking questions in front of a large group about information they don’t understand.

    Small group Teaching

    For skills that are more interactive and benefit from a collaborative environment, you may want to choose a small group setting. The implementation of a Core Component, such as surveillance, might be more effective if you target a distinct group in your facility. For example, if you were considering introducing surgical site infection surveillance, you might target a surgical ward. Learners may feel more empowered to ask clarifying questions, as well as participate in discussions amongst the group.

    Clinical PSractice

    When demonstrating procedures or interventions, it is best to teach in clinical practice. This is the space in which learners will apply their knowledge and gain hands-on skills.

    However, ensuring a standardized learning experience for all students may prove challenging in this individualized setting because different instructors could teach the concept differently. The use of classroom-based simulation training is also a valuable method that can be employed.

    Another consideration is patient consent. Before performing a demonstration on a patient, his or her feelings, beliefs, and rights must be taken into account as well as verbal (and in some cases according to local context, written) consent.

  • IPC Training in El Salvador (20 min)

    This case study is based on an article by Caniza et al.1

    Silvio, a senior infection prevention and control nurse at Buena Salud Hospital in El Salvador, has spent the last 15 years as the IPC focal person. Recently, the hospital became an IPC training centre, attracting participants from the region. Silvio and his colleagues have been tasked with teaching new IPC trainees during this one-month training session. Silvio enjoys training future IPC personnel, because he knows that proper IPC training leads to safer wards and facilities and less infections, thereby reducing the number of preventable deaths.

    To make the most out of the month-long training, Silvio and the other instructors have decided to use the following modalities:

    • In-person lectures (two hours each day)
    • Quizzes
    • Small group practical sessions (four-five trainees in each group)

    The course curriculum covered many topics outlined by the WHO Core Components. Let’s look at how Silvio and his colleagues taught four of these: Hospital-acquired infection (HAI) surveillance, development and design of IPC guidelines, outbreak investigation, and training and education.

    HAI Surveillance

    At the beginning of the training, Silvio assigns each group a ward in the hospital. He asks them to observe new patients and identify clinical and environmental factors that might cause an increased risk of infection. Silvio instructs his trainees to look for the presence of catheters or tubes, a history of surgery, parenteral nutrition, or pulmonary aspiration of secretions. Risk factors and patient outcome (including whether any infections were hospital acquired) were recorded. This activity gave trainees some experience in HAI surveillance. Trainees concluded this practice exercise by analyzing their observations and presenting them to Silvio, the other instructors, and the chiefs of each of the four wards. Surveillance is one of the Core Components of IPC (core component 4).

    Development and Design of IPC Guidelines

    When patients are recognized to be at risk of infection, it is imperative that consistent preventative action is taken. This is why IPC policy and procedure documents are created. To teach this, Silvio provides a series of short training sessions on the knowledge and practice needed to develop IPC policies and procedures. Training addressed how to create, format, and prioritize policies or procedures including consideration of their dissemination and implementation. This activity provides trainees with experience in design, development, and evaluation of IPC policies and procedures. IPC guidelines is one of the Core Components of IPC (core component 2).

    Evaluation of compliance with infection control policies and procedures

    Silvio focused on hand hygiene and instructed trainees to plan, execute, evaluate, and interpret hand hygiene observations in their assigned wards. After the planning phase, group members summarized their plans for monitoring and data collection and then presented a written report that included data analysis, identification of areas in need of improvement, an action plan, and a copy of the data collection tool. Each group shared its findings and recommendations with the hospital administration, participating wards, and nursing staff. Monitoring /audit of IPC practices and feedback is one of the core components of IPC (core component 6)

    Training

    Participants learned how to apply principles of adult learning when creating instructional materials. This is Silvio’s favorite part of the training. He feels that one of the most important parts of being an IPC focal person is educating others on proper guidelines and procedures. Hand hygiene, for instance, is one of the simplest ways to prevent the spread of infection. He gives trainees materials on hand hygiene and asks them to teach the nursing staff of participating wards. The nursing staff gave feedback on what the trainees did well and how they could improve. IPC education and training is one of the core components of IPC (core component 3).

    The one-month course was evaluated by a survey, which asked participants to rate the quality of the content presented, the performance of instructors, and how satisfied they were with the teaching methods. To measure knowledge gain, Silvio and his colleagues compared pre and post test scores and looked at grades given on practical projects. Successful completion of the course required a score of 65%; participants who did not reach this score were given additional projects and assignments. Many of those trained by Silvio have gone on to create successful IPC programmes at their own facilities.

    In the questions below, apply what you know about adult learning theory to the previous IPC case study.

    1Using the drop down lists, match each learning activity with a stage of Kolb’s Learning Theory.

    2Which training approach is best for daily two-hour lecture sessions?

    3List at least 3 outcomes of training from this case study. Write them in the text box below, then select Compare Answer to read an expert response.

    4Silvio is passionate about educating others in IPC. Which two Multimodal Strategy elements does Silvio’s enthusiasm represent? Select two that apply.

    5Which of the Core Components did Silvio focus on during this one-month training? Select all that apply.

    6What options for improvement were trainees with scores that fell below the mean score of 65% given?

  • Educational Experiences (10 min)

    In a notebook or with a partner think back to past educational experiences. Remember Kolb’s four stages of learning.

    • List any activities that involved concrete experiences.
    • List any activities that involved reflective observation.
    • List any activities that involved abstract conceptualization.
    • List any activities that involved active experimentation.

    Not every learning experience will fulfill every stage of learning, or each stage of learning may not have been evident until now. Did you list more activities for one stage than another? Which activities did you prefer? Your preference for one or more activities may indicate the environment in which you learn best.

    When considering which environments are most conducive to your learning experience, consider the pros and cons of different training experiences. Have you experienced training in a large group? What were some pros and cons from that experience?

    Have you experienced training in a small group? What were some pros and cons from that experience?

    Have you experienced training in a clinical setting? What were some pros and cons from that experience?

    If you’re discussing this reflection activity with a partner, compare answers. You may be able to identify some differences between your personal learning style and theirs. Consider this as you develop educational activities and training for your team.

  • Summary (5 min)

    In this module, you have learned how project management skills apply to IPC projects. These skills involve understanding the project management process, evaluating risk, and managing human resources. In combination with soft skills (such as communication) and project management science, you can build effective IPC projects and teams.

    An IPC focal person must also know how to train staff so that projects will be successful. By understanding Kolb’s learning stages, and the learning modalities that apply to each, you have a strong foundation for developing educational activities for your facility. Keep in mind that there are many ways to learn and train, and not every approach applies to every topic.

  • References
    • 1Caniza, M. A., Maron, G., McCullers, J., Clara, W. A., Cedillos, R., Dueñas, L., ... Tuomanen, E. I. (2007). Planning and implementation of an infection control training program for healthcare providers in Latin America. Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology, 28(12), 1328-1333.
    • 2Kolb, D.A. (1984). Experiential learning:experience as the source of learning and development. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.