IPC Career

Mental wellness remains a critical issue for health care workers. After using Brain-Body Therapy for nearly 2 weeks, I found its combination of guided movement, CBT-informed content, and stress-reduction techniques particularly relevant for infection prevention professionals navigating high-pressure environments. Read my review of this innovative app and why it may help support resilience, stress management, and overall well-being.

Sterile processing departments (SPD) are increasingly being pushed beyond reactive maintenance models as equipment failures, workflow disruptions, and tray defects continue to impact surgical readiness and patient safety. This article explores why SPD may be uniquely positioned for an AI-driven predictive maintenance revolution, examining how systems thinking, IoT integration, human factors research, and real-time equipment monitoring could help reduce disruptions before failures occur. The piece also highlights the growing shift toward treating maintenance as a strategic reliability function tied directly to infection prevention, OR efficiency, and operational resilience across health care systems.

This 6-part series will chronicle the essential strategies and professional insights needed to empower infection preventionists (IPs) in their job search. In partnership with Jonnie Jacobs, an executive recruiter at Clutch Recruitment, this series will offer a comprehensive guide to navigating the current health care job market. This third article in the series focuses on connecting with specialized recruiters and navigating the hiring process.

A new podcast, The Safety Spectrum, explores workforce challenges in infection prevention, particularly the barriers faced by qualified professionals without nursing credentials, despite CMS and other regulatory bodies recognizing infection prevention as a multidisciplinary field. The article highlights ongoing staffing shortages, evolving workforce demographics, and the need for more inclusive hiring practices to strengthen patient safety and rebuild the infection prevention profession.

This 6-part series chronicles the journey of 2 infection prevention leaders, Brenna Doran and Jessica Swain, who partnered to research and shed light on the critical issue of IP staffing in the current health care landscape. The fourth article in the series will focus on the impact of geographic variations and staffing models on the support for infection prevention programs.

The cohosts of Contagious Conversation speak with Tori Whitacre Martonicz, lead editor of Infection Control Today, about her presentation at the SoCal SPA Spring Conference, and how the conference speakers emphasized leadership beyond titles, urging SPD professionals to share knowledge, speak up, and turn everyday insights into safer patient care practices.

As her 2025 APIC presidency concludes, Carol McLay, DrPH, MPH, RN, CIC, FAPIC, FSHEA, discusses public health funding cuts, science advocacy, global partnerships, workforce development, and why infection preventionists must speak up. In this exclusive ICT interview, she shares lessons from a tumultuous year and her vision for strengthening the infection prevention profession worldwide.

A national survey of infection preventionists reveals deep concerns about staffing shortages, lack of leadership support, limited authority, and outdated surveillance systems. IP professionals warn that without structural investment, modernization, and executive recognition of their operational value, patient safety, regulatory compliance, and hospital financial stability remain at risk.

Infection preventionists are experts at stopping pathogens, but many of the field’s hardest challenges are human. Contagious Conversations is a new video series that opens the candid, sometimes uncomfortable discussions about who belongs in infection prevention, how teams hire and grow, and what it will take to build a stronger workforce. Expect curiosity, honesty, and practical takeaways, not hot takes.

In this ICT podcast, HSPA President Arlene Bush reflects on a year of global collaboration, shifting standards, and the realities of compliance in sterile processing. She shares why 2026 should focus on celebrating throughput wins, strengthening training through rounding, and leading with empathy in high-stress departments.

In this complete interview with Colleen Becker, PhD, MSN, RN, CCRN-K, senior director of perioperative education for AORN, strong infection prevention practices are grounded in trust, communication, and psychological safety within the operating room team.

Infection prevention professionals are facing a critical breaking point. New survey data reveal widespread understaffing, rising burnout, and systemic undervaluation that threaten patient safety, outbreak readiness, and health system resilience.

Continuous, evidence-based education builds confidence, competence, and safer perioperative care. Colleen Becker, PhD, MSN, RN, CCRN-K, senior director of perioperative education for AORN, explains how inclusive learning approaches and career-long education reinforce infection prevention excellence while supporting professional growth and resilience.

When inclusivity breaks down in the OR, patient safety is at risk. In this interview with Infection Control Today®, Colleen Becker, PhD, MSN, RN, CCRN-K, senior director of perioperative education for AORN, explains how perioperative leaders can use education, empathy, and patient-centered storytelling to address inclusivity challenges, strengthen team culture, and support safer surgical care.