The Power of Partnership: Integrating Infection Prevention and Wound Care in Home Health Brief

CE:0/IPU:1 

Monday, October 27, 2025 @ 1 pm ET

Jessica Birkholz BSN, RN, CIC and Valerie Martin BSN, RN, CIC

This presentation highlights how infection prevention and wound care teams partnered through the Clinical Excellence team to improve safety, consistency, and outcomes in home care. Sparked by survey-identified gaps, the teams created standardized procedures and product use, leading to fewer infections, better compliance, and cost savings. The work continues through regular reviews, new hire education, and ongoing quality improvement.

Learning Objectives

1. Explain how collaborative structures like the Clinical Excellence team foster interdisciplinary alignment between infection prevention and wound care to improve safety, compliance, and patient outcomes.

2. Describe how insights from surveys and audits led to the development of standardized procedures and product formularies, resulting in improved compliance and cost savings.

3. Identify strategies for sustaining collaboration and continuous improvement, including the use of PDSA cycles and integration of infection prevention and wound care into new hire education.

Continuing Education (CE) Credit: 

IPUs: 

• APIC designates this activity for 1 infection prevention unit(s). 
• For more information, please visit the CBIC Website here.