MHA Graduate, Virginia Lipke, Receives International Award

APIC

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact Denise Graham, Vice President, Public Policy—(202) 454-2617 dgraham@apic.org

FORT THOMAS, KY—A St. Luke’s Hospital infection control practitioner whose successful efforts to initiate a program whereby inpatients receive influenza and/or pneumococcal vaccines has earned her the prestigious international title of “2007APIC Hero of Infection Prevention.”
Virginia “Ginny” Lipke, RN, BS, ACRN, CIC, Infection Control Practitioner for both St. Luke’s east and west hospitals, has been named December’s Hero by the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC), an 11,000 member international association headquartered in Washington, DC. The “Heroes” program recognizes those who have contributed significantly to the reduction of infection and who are impacting the health, safety and well-being of patients, healthcare workers and the public. Lipke, a Cincinnati resident, launched a personal campaign to implement a series of infection prevention programs, including a policy whereby hospitalized patients are approached by a nurse and asked if they would be interested in either a flu or pneumonia vaccine, or both. Prior to Lipke’s initiation of this program, no policy along these lines existed at St. Luke’s Hospital. Today, this is a standing order to both screen and administer vaccines if patients so choose, without need for a physician order, making The St. Luke’s hospitals the first among Cincinnati and/or northern Kentucky hospitals to implement this program.
As a result, between 96%-98% of qualified patients are being screened and vaccinated; a figure that was as low as 10% less than three years ago.
“Our goal is to have 100% of our patients asked if they want either vaccine, once it’s determined they’re eligible,” said Lipke.
In addition to this successful program, Lipke has also authored the oral care component of St. Luke’s ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) bundle program.
“This is a very important program,” said Lipke. “Bacteria from the mouth can drain into a patient’s system and easily set up a case of pneumonia. We added oral care for our patients every four hours to our bundle.”
The program resulted in no new cases of ventilator-associated pneumonias reported during a 19-month period, which has become a hospital record. For the past 34 months, none of the patients who have occupied the 29 combined Intensive Care Unit beds within St. Luke’s two hospitals have had a VAP.
“One of the keys to our success—besides oral care—is because we do in-services every six months and oral care has become standard for ICU patients,” said Lipke.
Lipke also created a policy for rapid HIV testing for mothers with no prenatal care, making St. Luke’s the first in the region to offer such testing. While the HIV rate is relatively low in northern Kentucky, Lipke said, “I felt it should still be offered as a tool for pregnant women with no prenatal history. “If we can get anti-viruals to women during labor, there’s a good chance the baby will be born negative from these diseases.”
She has also started an early sexually transmitted disease treatment program within the hospital’s Emergency Department, which includes free STD medication from the state and the Centers for Disease Control. This comes in response to increases in area cases of Chlamydia and Gonorrhea.
Lipke has been a registered nurse since 1994 and an Infection Control Professional since 1999. For many years prior, she was a licensed practical nurse.
She is among 12 other healthcare professionals to be honored this year through APIC’s highly-successful “Heroes of Infection Prevention” program, funded through a grant from Tyco Healthcare/Kendall, makers of DoverTM urological and AMDTM wound care products.
APIC’s mission is to improve health and patient safety by reducing risks of infection and other adverse outcomes. The Association’s more than 11,000 members have primary responsibility for infection prevention, control and hospital epidemiology in health care settings around the globe. APIC advances its mission through education, research, collaboration, practice guidance, public policy and credentialing. Visit APIC online at https://mail.apic.org/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=https://mail.apic.org/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.apic.org/

Our Student Profile

Part of our process of self-examination includes analyzing the profile of our students in terms of gender, geography and age. We thought you might be interested in this information too. As is true of other GPS programs, Health Administration students are typically adult learners working within their chosen fields. They seek additional education to enhance their careers, achieve higher level positions or retain current positions.

Gender:
Historically, the students in the GPS distance education courses have been largely female (75% - 80%) and HA students are not significantly different except that students enrolled in the LTCA programs show a slightly more balanced picture, probably due to specific licensure requirements.

Geographic Distribution:
Because of the distance learning form of course delivery, the students in the HA programs come from across the U. S. and from without the country. At one time or another, students have come from nearly every state.

Age:
Students in the both the LTCA and MHA programs are generally mid-career individuals. That is reflected in the age distribution of current students.

Age Range Undergrad. Grad.
24 - 34_____25%___ 13%
35 - 44_____30%___ 28%
45 - 54_____ 33%___37%
55 - 64_____ 12%___17%
65+ ________- _____2%
Unknown ____- _____3%

Both the average (mean) and median ages for the undergraduate HA students are 42, while those numbers are a bit higher for graduate MHA students, as would be expected, with the mean and median both at 46 years. There is no significant variation in age patterns for the different program options (courses, certificate or degree) or by gender.

SJC Program Director Named to National Board

John Pratt, Director of the Health Administration programs in the Division of Graduate and Professional Studies (GPS) has been named to the Board of Directors of the American College of Health Care Administrators (ACHCA). ACHCA is a national professional society devoted to leadership development and professional education of long-term care administrators. Pratt fills a Board seat newly created specifically for an academician. The appointment is for a term of three years.

He is a Fellow of ACHCA and a Life Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) a professional society of hospital executives. He also serves as Vice-Chair of the Education Committee of the National Association of Boards of Examiners for Long-Term Care Administrators (NAB).

In addition to administrative role in GPS, Pratt is a tenured Professor. He has been employed at Saint Joseph’s College of Maine since 1989 as a teacher and administrator. Before coming to SJC, he was a hospital administrator for twenty-five years. He is a regular presenter at professional conferences, an active contributor to professional journals, and is author of a textbook, Long-Term Care: Managing Across the Continuum.