International Infection Prevention Week is coming up this fall. Here’s how to make the most of it.
By Paul Girouard
It’s that time of year again. No, not college football season. This fall is International Infection Prevention Week (IIPW) October 15–21. You probably won’t be able to find a card at Hallmark, but maybe it’s a good time to acknowledge your accounts with your own message. The salesperson with the best story wins, and your story is that you are spending the third week of October thinking about infection prevention and the welfare of your customers and their patients. What can you do to make it an even bigger celebration?
Connect with your top 5 infection prevention suppliers
Look at your suppliers of gloves, hand hygiene, surface disinfection, PPE, sterilization, safety needles and syringes, and review your sales history. There are powerful brands in the market and suppliers that can support you with resources. Schedule focus time with one supplier per day for each day of International Infection Prevention Week.
Act as a guide
Be a scout and be prepared. Visit APIC.org, AORN.org, SGNA.org or CDC.gov, and make sure you have the latest recommendations and guidelines for the various pieces of the infection prevention category. You might want to join the local chapter of one of these organizations or have information on-hand for others who might be interested. Due to the pandemic, some of the guidelines were updated more recently, so it will be a worthwhile exercise to be current.
APIC
Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology
AORN
Association of periOperative Registered Nurses
CDC
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
SGNA
Society of Gastroenterology Nurses and Associate
Share suggestions for continuing education credits
Remember the five suppliers you are focusing on? Put them to work to offer up their company’s continuing education classes for the various topics around infection prevention.
Create a formulary of suggested products
Sometimes people are reluctant to ask for help, or they don’t have time to do the research. What products are recommended to build out a great infection prevention program? Build a list of infection prevention products to help get your accounts on track. Providing guidance builds your credibility as an authority and trusted source of information.
Share samples, literature, whitepapers, signage
There is so much ready-to-use information available on the websites listed, or from your supplier partners, that help reinforce good infection prevention procedures. Each day of the week you can focus on a different product area with your suppliers. There is also signage available on the APIC.org website that recognizes the week.
Social media
Is there a creative way you can recognize the week with your customers on social media? Over the years there have been dances celebrating gloves, or funny videos demonstrating ways to acknowledge each other instead of shaking hands. This is an area where you can inject some fun into what you do to celebrate the week and recognize infection preventionists.
The fourth quarter is a busy time of year. Prepare now for the third week of October to recognize infection prevention. Make it productive and memorable. Remember, the best story wins – what are you going to do to tell the best story this year?