New Infection Prevention and Control Tools from IDH

As a follow-up to the Indiana Department of Health’s (IDH) updated COVID-19 LTC Facility Infection Control Guidance Standard Operation Procedure, a summary of which can be found here, IDH has released several tools to complement the implementation of the updated Infection Control Guidance, including two screening tools, an infection prevention checklist, and a variety of posters and infographics.  The use of these tools is optional, but all long-term care facilities are encouraged to review them to determine if they would be helpful to your facility’s infection prevention and control protocols.

Screening Tools

IDH has compiled two screening tools, as all staff must be screened prior to the start of each shift, and visitors/vendors must be screened prior to each entry of the facility.  The staff screening tool can be found here, and the visitor/vendor can be found here.  As noted in the employee screening tool, each screening can serve as an informative inservice education moment and include additional questions and/or statements, such encouraging mask wearing at events outside of the long-term care facility.

Other Resources

IDH has also compiled and shared the following infection control resources:

• A “Stop Signs” poster with the appropriate PPE listed for Green, Yellow, and Red Zones, which can be found here.
• A poster detailing the proper PPE donning and doffing protocols, which can be found here.
• An Infection Prevention Checklist, which can be found here.
• A Hand Hygiene Checklist, which can be found here, and a Hand Sanitizer Audit Tool, which can be found here.

Finally, the Infection Control and Prevention PowerPoint presented by Jennifer Spivey (Infection Prevention Program Manager at IDH) during the LTC Webinar on October 22, 2020, can be found here.