Monitoring of health care personnel employee and occupational health immunization program practices in the United States.

Recent studies have identified concerns with various elements of health care personnel immunization programs, including the handling and management of the vaccine. The purpose of this study was to assess monitoring processes that support evaluation of the care of vaccines in health care settings. An 11-question survey instrument was developed for use in scripted telephone surveys. State health departments in all 50 states in the United States and the District of Columbia were the target audience for the surveys. Data from a total of 47 states were obtained and analyzed. No states reported an existing monitoring process for evaluation of health care personnel immunization programs in their states. Our assessment indicates that vaccine evaluation processes for health care facilities are rare to nonexistent in the United States. Identifying existing practice gaps and resultant opportunities for improvements may be an important safety initiative that protects patients and health care personnel.

Health care personnel immunization programs: an assessment of knowledge and practice among infection preventionists in US health care facilities.

BACKGROUND: Guidelines exist that recommend specific vaccines for health care personnel and supporting documents provide guidance for program development and implementation, but the extent to which those guidelines have been implemented in health care personnel immunization programs has not been fully explored. This project aimed to evaluate current practices in US health care facilities concerning health care personnel immunization programs. METHODS: A Web-based survey was deployed to 13,670 infection preventionists to assess 5 major program areas: (1) immunization program management; (2) vaccines provided to health care personnel; (3) vaccine handling practices; (4) training provided for the individual(s) responsible for the program; and (5) quality indicators for the program. A scoring scale was developed that demonstrated an overall measure of program performance. RESULTS: The Web-based survey resulted in 1,006 completed responses. When assessing overall program performance, the median vaccine program score was 47.6%. Respondents certified in infection prevention (CIC) scored significantly higher in overall program performance than respondents not certified (54% vs, 43%, respectively, P = .003). CONCLUSION: Results of the survey have identified a number of education and training opportunities that can be addressed by professional associations using available evidence-based and proven implementation materials as resource documents.