This report examines the unique challenges facing the nursing home environment in the ongoing fight against healthcare-associated infections. The COVID-19 pandemic’s inequitable impact on the residents and staff that live and work in these settings has stimulated a much-needed interest in how to optimize safety in these complex environments, which serve as both a home and a healthcare facility for their residents. As a companion piece to NYAM’s Infection Prevention Compendium for Long-Term Care Facilities developed in partnership with the Yale School of Nursing, the report weaves together three distinct initiatives undertaken to better understand the state of infection prevention and control in nursing homes and other long-term care settings:
- The environmental scan, which examined current understanding and knowledge gaps in this field using information from the published literature, expert consensus, nursing home staff interviews, and federal and public websites. Five distinct themes emerged from this scan: Staffing and Resource Availability; Knowledge and Training; Quality of Life; Organizational Culture; and External Influences and Regulation.
- The Virtual Summit in December 2020, which convened professionals from across the United States as well as Thailand, Scotland and Australia to provide expert clinical, research and policy insights on the pandemic response in nursing homes around the globe.
- The Forgotten Frontline qualitative study, which used structured interviews to highlight the lived experiences of New York City-based long-term care staff during the initial waves of the pandemic in 2020.
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