So I am back ready to work on my thesis today, but I have to admit that half my screen in taken up with Twitter feed…. Usually I am much more disciplined, trying to ensure that I “schedule” Twitter sessions in to my day – but I am making allowances for today/tomorrow so I can keep up with the exciting proceedings still going on at Infection Prevention 2013 (#IP2013).
Impressions of #IP2013
I was, again, overwhelmed by the amazing blend of scale and intimacy of this event, which first struck me last year in Liverpool. At #IP2012 I was experiencing everything for the first time, including the whole concept of a “full conference”. My only previous conference experience was the HPA conference, which was held at my own research institution (University of Warwick), therefore had not given me the same immersion opportunity as #IP2012. So I wasn’t sure how this year’s event would feel – would it have lost some of its charm? Also, this year I had been accepted for oral presentation, giving me another new experience, but also an additional layer of nerves…
Happily #IP2013 more than fulfilled my expectations – from the moment I arrived I found I was rapidly taking notes, excitedly making links to my own work and seeing parallels I could draw between other people’s experiences and my future plans.
I love that about conference. The sudden immersion into an environment where everyone shares a common sense of purpose, can understand experiences, and can debate ideas. As I have – from an academic point of view – been working alone for the past four years, such opportunities are very welcome.
It was also hugely exciting and a source of great pride to see how many of the key concepts highlighted by the experts in the morning session (more of which later) were reflected in work already been carried out by my IPC heroes. They really are superstars, and it’s wonderful to know they’re getting to share some of that work at #IP2013 too.
Personal Highlights
As well as sharing my work on Study 3, which explored behavioural drivers to hand hygiene, I also had the opportunity to meet and hear from some leading experts in Infection Prevention. Here are just a few highlights…
Professor Dale Fisher – offered really useful information about experience in successfully achieving organisational “buy-in”. Very closely linked to my work and subsequent thoughts on “Meaningful Data”, and thought it was particularly useful to connect with the work of Human Factors (Ergonomics). Definitely areas to follow up…
Dr Michael Gardam – presented the concept of Front Line Ownership (FLO) as part of a complexity science approach, with the message that solutions to problems may be very context specific. What works for one unit/team/setting may not work for another… I’m interested in linking this to “Domain Knowledge”, which is a key theme throughout my thesis, so really pleased to see that evidence of successful practice using the FLO approach.
Professor Hugo Sax – provided a clear, logical background for why hand hygiene is vital, with particular emphasis on the role of endogenous infection, something I have discussed, but would like to look at in more depth. I was particularly interested in the human factors approach, and thought the examples of innovations where error had seemingly been “designed in” through a failure to realise what was intuitive, were very persuasive. Within hand hygiene I agree that understanding what is intuitive and what requires explicit learning would be of great benefit when designing interventions.
Martin Kiernan – delivering the EM Cottrell Lecture was a clear highlight, not just for me but for the audience as a whole. Entertaining yet highly informative, “The life and times of the urinary catheter” was a talk spanning 2,000 years, examining (scant!) evidence, demanding action and research, and ending with a self-penned poem. I don’t think you can ask any more of a speaker can you…except maybe a dance? Roll on #IP2014…
Finally I also got to meet Pat Cattini and Jon Otter, both of whom made my day possible, and also helped ease my presentation nerves by being wonderfully welcoming, supportive and friendly. I’m not sure I could have made it to the podium without their reassuring presence in the front row, and it was a fantastic example of the inclusive environment I appreciate from IPS. Needless to say Jon then gave a flawless and superb talk on targeted MRSA screening – a presentation master class thrown in for free! I also found out that Pat has an MSc which explored hand hygiene auditing, that she’s familiar with the key papers I’ve based Study 3 on, and that she’s involved in hand hygiene technology trials. In other words, she is my new superhero.
Now, back to the thesis………..the first step on my journey into Infection Prevention!
[…] human factors to achieve the highest possible rates of compliance. Carolyn has written an engaging blog-report of Infection Prevention 2013, which includes more details on her […]
Thanks for this great summary, I have seen the most interesting Hugo Sax present in 2012 at the Australian College of Infection Prevention and control conference – the human factors are some of the great new ideas in the area of prevention of infection.
This week the Australia conference was on again, can I recommend to you seek out some of Nick Graves publications for an interesting view on costs
Glad you enjoyed – #IP2013 was superb, and I was delighted to see Human Factors emerging as a clear theme. Thanks for the Nick Graves recommendation, will follow up.
Really nice blog Carolyn and thank you for your generous comments. T’was a humbling experience
Thanks Martin – comments much deserved! Great to have role models like you to learn from.
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[…] spirit was as much in evidence at the meeting in Birmingham as I have found it to be at their national conferences. Within seconds of entering the room I was made to feel welcome (the bacon roll definitely […]