Breaking Down Silos: Why Infection Prevention Needs Cross-Departmental Support

Fewer than 14% of infection prevention (IP) departments receive staffing support from other hospital departments, a startling figure that underscores the need for stronger integration across health care systems. In a recent discussion among infection preventionists (IPs), several experts reflected on the implications of this resource gap and offered ideas for moving forward that they found from their recent study.

In their discussion with Infection Control Today^® (ICT^®), study authors spoke on siloed operations and how infection prevention and control (IPC) should not be done in isolation. Brenna Doran PhD, MA, hospital epidemiology and infection prevention for the University of California, San Francisco, and a coach and consultant of infection prevention; Jessica Swain, MBA, MLT, director of infection prevention and control for Dartmouth Health in Lebanon, New Hampshire; and Shanina Knighton, associate professor at Case Western Reserve University School of Nursing and senior nurse scientist at MetroHealth System in Cleveland, Ohio.

One of the strongest themes that emerged was the risk of siloed operations. “Our study highlights the fact that operations can be siloed and without collaboration, infection prevention efforts can be less effective,” Knighton explained. The reality, she emphasized, is that infection prevention touches nearly every corner of a hospital.“It touches every department. And so, with us being able to collaborate more, I think that we can start to decrease missed opportunities as it pertains to patient safety.”

Yet collaboration alone is not enough—funding remains a pressing barrier. “There’s this minuscule budget sometimes for infection prevention and control, but it’s expected that infection prevention and control touches every aspect of the hospital,” Knighton continued. Without adequate investment, even the best cross-training and teamwork cannot fully address the scope of what IPs are tasked to accomplish.

Another critical issue is the unrealistic expectation that IPs can “wear all the hats.” As Doran said, “It’s really challenging to balance being a generalist… with also specializing. We can’t physically or logistically do both.” Areas such as data analytics, reporting, and technology integration often fall outside the natural skill sets of most IPs, yet these tasks are increasingly expected of them. The group agreed that allocating partial support from specialists—such as data analysts or IT professionals—would significantly improve infection prevention programs while allowing IPs to stay focused on their primary mission: preventing infections.

That mission, however, depends on strong relationships with other departments. IPs see themselves not as replacements for nurses, environmental services, or sterile processing professionals, but as allies who ensure safety across all workflows. “It’s not trying to be a nurse, or environmental services,” Knighton said. “It’s trying to enhance what they do best by making sure that they’re doing it safely, but being able to view things with an infection prevention and control lens.”

Embedding infection prevention principles directly into other departments emerged as a promising solution. By training and empowering champions within nursing, environmental services, and sterile processing, hospitals can ensure that IP practices are reinforced even when an IP cannot be physically present. “We cannot be at everybody’s elbow all the time,” Swain said. “So to have those embedded people to be more specialized in infection prevention, and be looking at it from that lens, is going to impact our programs and make them that much better and increase patient and staff safety.”

The takeaway is Clear: without dedicated cross-departmental support and leadership buy-in, infection preventionists will continue to face an uphill battle. However, with the right collaboration, hospitals can create safer environments for both patients and staff.

IP is not a person; it's a program, and that program truly encompasses everybody working within the confines, not just of the hospital but also our external partners. So again, we're trying to build a tribe,” Doran said.

This is the third installment of the interview. The first can be found here. The second can be found here.

Reference

Doran B, Swain J, Knighton S. Quantifying the progressing landscape of infection preventionists: A survey-based analysis of workload and resource needs. Am J Infect Control. 2025;53(6):669-677. doi:10.1016/j.ajic.2025.03.012