title: A statewide survey of nosocomial infection surveillance in acute care hospitals.
abstract: Increasingly, states are considering mandating the reporting of nosocomial infection data. To determine the impact of potential legislation, a questionnaire was mailed to the infection control department of each hospital in Virginia to assess the size of the infection control workforce and methodologies used for nosocomial infection surveillance. Most hospitals (64%) had 1 ICP full-time equivalent (FTE), and, at 86% of hospitals, the ICPs had other major responsibilities. The estimated mean additional ICP FTE required to perform hospital-wide surveillance was 1.7. Statewide, an additional 160 ICPs at an estimated annual cost of 11.5 million dollars would be required if reporting of all nosocomial infections were mandated.
authors.affiliation: Department of Infection Control and Epidemiology, Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center, Richmond, VA 23298-0019, USA. medmond@hsc.vcu.edu
authors.forename: Michael B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Edmond
authors.forename: Mary Beth
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: White-Russell
authors.forename: Janis
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ober
authors.forename: C Diane
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Woolard
authors.forename: Gonzalo M L
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Bearman
mesh_terms: D003428:Cross Infection / Q000517:prevention & control*; D018563:Disease Notification / Q000191:economics; D006280:Health Workforce / Q000191:economics; D006761:Hospitals; D006801:Humans; D017053:Infection Control / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods*; D011159:Population Surveillance; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014768:Virginia