[John-paul]

Discussion Question: Surveillance is the systematic, ongoing collection, collation and analysis of data with timely dissemination of information. What kinds of surveillance do you see occurring at your current or a past workplace? What do you see as important surveillance at your workplace and why?

[Diane]

I understand now more that ever the whole picture of systematic collections currently in out facility.
I am able to understand the importance of how all roles are used to ensure safety for everyone when issues occur.
We have multi-disciplines that includes, NP, RN, RPN,PSW, Activation, dietary, management and most important family and visitors.
As an RPN i take report from PSWs who are hands on with all CCP/LTD clients, i understand the importance that each person in out facility plays when it comes to reporting S/S of clients.
Our facility closely monitors each client, take each concern and follows up promptly, line lists are ready at our desk area, to ensure accuracy of time day and symptoms. and if isolation is needed.
Our IPAC lead is always available to educate staff and families when isolation precautions are needed.
Our charge nurses are always reaching out, visits each unit to inquire of all concerns.
I now see and understand how and why the team in IPAC do this work and how it will protect the spread of pathogen in out facility.

[Tracey]

I have the opportunity to observe surveillance is different facilities. The older facilities have a more open concept design
In facilities where there is opportunity for increased resident mingling and touching more surveillance should be applied to monitor
I’m sure there is data about this. That if the layout or age of the home increases risk for outbreak

I think more education and surveillance is required with visitors. I find visitors are often willing to help. Would it be an opportunity to gather information from visitors? IPAC lead could be instrumental in educating families of their knowledge during family council meetings

[Margaret]

You raise an important point about how facility design can influence infection risk, as older open-concept layouts may increase resident mingling and therefore require enhanced surveillance and IPAC strategies. I also agree that engaging visitors through education and collaboration with the IPAC lead during family council meetings could strengthen surveillance efforts, as families can be valuable partners in early symptom reporting and outbreak prevention.

[Amanda]

This is quite true. I work in an LTC home that was recently rebuilt. Our old facility was small, with few no private rooms and hardly any semi privates. It basically consisted of wards. The residents had one small lounge area and communal dining area. It basically felt like they were all on top of each other. It was hard to separate those who were unwell from those who weren’t. A few years ago we built a much larger facility (same amount of residents). My facility was separated into three neighbourhoods, with four lounges, three dining rooms and many private rooms. Full time staff work solely on one neighbourhood. It makes a huge difference in reducing the spread of infection and providing more accurate surveillance of the residents and staff.

[Kimberly]

Surveillance in a hospital is essential for maintaining patient safety, preventing infections, and ensuring quality care. Some common types of surveillance I have observed include infection control monitoring, such as hospital acquired infections, monitoring hand hygiene compliance, proper signage posted, but the most important surveillance I feel is in morning rounds with staff: including charge nurse, patient care manager, infection control manager, ect using active surveillance. Morning rounds are an important surveillance because it’s give the opportunity for timely reporting, collection and dissemination allows the hospital to take correct actions quickly to prevent further risks and improve overall care quality. Effective surveillance ensures that everyone in the facility is aware of potential hazards and that strategies are in place to reduce them.

[Katrine]

In visiting nursing, surveillance includes monitoring clients for signs and symptoms of infection, documenting changes in condition, and communicating concerns to the care team. This may involve observing wound healing, respiratory or gastrointestinal symptoms, and identifying infection trends in the community. This surveillance is important to allow early intervention, prevent transmission between clients, and protect vulnerable populations while providing safe care in the home setting.

[Ibikemi]

At my place of work, current or past workplace, surveillance occurs through routine monitoring of patient vital signs every shift when we suspect any symptoms, or when they are back from hospital admission, i.e., hospital-acquired infections, and hand hygiene compliance, which is used in promoting patient and staff safety —surveillance through laboratory reports and incident reports.
Presently, the most important surveillance at my place of work is Resident safety and Infection surveillance, because it helps identify risk early, prevents adverse events and improves the quality of care through timely data-driven interventions.
We always asked visitors to do hand hygiene in / out as they must pass through the Nursing station as they enter the facility.

[Sheila]

You highlighted key areas of effective surveillance. Monitoring vital signs, reviewing lab and incident reports, and tracking hand hygiene compliance are all essential for early detection of risks. I also agree that prioritizing resident safety and infection surveillance supports timely interventions and improves overall quality of care. Requiring visitors to perform hand hygiene on entry is a strong preventive measure that reinforces a culture of safety.

[Adeyemi]

Hello Ibikemi, in your contribution you highlighted a very important policy(which also serves as a means of surveillance)- post-admission swab collection in LTC and readmission swab collection- to determine the infection status of residents. This is a surveillance method that recognizes that there could be a sudden change in the health status of a resident who is just returning after more than a 24 hour stay in the hospital. This procedure helps helps to keep both residents and staff safe by reducing the risk of infection transmission in the home.

[Rebekah Joy]

In my LTC workplace, I’ve noticed surveillance through monitoring infections and outbreaks, tracking falls and skin integrity, and auditing hand hygiene and PPE use. This surveillance is important because it helps identify risks early, prevent harm, and guide timely interventions to keep residents and staff safe.

[Rachel]

Hi Rebekah Joy, I agree with you. I find especially with auditing proper PPE use is important as it allows for the home to ensure that staff are correctly donning and doffing and utilizing the PPE. By ensuring staff are doing so this helps in preventing the spread as correctly utilizing PPE protects staff from being a mode of transmission from direct and indirect contact with it and then spreading it throughout the home after coming into contact.

[Adeyemi]

In my former place of work, the application called Agota Audit is used surveil the level of compliance of some staff like PSW and nurses about their compliance with hand hygiene each shift. This allows the IPAC team to know the level of compliance among staff thereby enabling them to determine risks of exposure of residents and other staff to infectious diseases. Monitoring and ensuring the use of PPE by the PSW for while assisting residents place under isolation is another type of surveillance which will help to prevent the transmission of disease from resident to staff thereby breaking the cycle of infection transmission in the workplace.

[danait]

This system is truly impressive. I hadn’t heard of it before, but I can see how many healthcare facilities could benefit from its implementation. Tracking processes can be challenging, especially when working with large multidisciplinary teams. I imagine your work took place in a well-controlled setting, which likely helped with coordination and consistency. Thank you for sharing this insightful application.

[Svetlana]

The systemic and ongoing collections, collation and analysis of date , timely dissemination are key components of LTC surveilles. Routinely gathering data on specific infections. Organizing and interpreting data to identify trends, potential outbreaks, or areas where Infection Prevention And Control (IPAC) measures are failing. Providing results and feedback to frontline staff, senior leadership, and governing bodies so they can implement corrective actions or interventions immediately. In our facility as IPAC team we initiated daily infection sheet surveilles. Every shift staff is monitoring Resident’s symptoms for infection and report to IPAC team. We are tracking LAB results, conducting morning rounds as well. These actions are helping us to monitor, prevent, and control health-related events, particularly healthcare-associated infections and to improve resident’s safety and health outcomes.

[Jessica-lyn]

Being in the roll I am now, I see it much more. Being on top of and aware of any symptoms or illnesses in the home is key in stopping or limiting the spread of anything. Our staff does very well in letting our IPAC staff know when someone may be sick, or is showing signs of illness. Quickly putting residents into isolation helps to slow the spread greatly.

[danait]

We were required to complete an IPAC screening form electronically each day before coming to work. The form asked about our overall well-being and any symptoms we might be experiencing. If one or two symptoms were reported, the system would flag it as yellow. If more than three symptoms were identified, it would be marked red, meaning we were required to stay home. The IPAC team would then follow up with further instructions. This process helped ensure staff remained healthy and protected vulnerable patients from potential exposure.

[Rachel]

Hi danait, You bring up a good point in electronic screenings in your work place. By screening staff prior to facility entry its ensuring that staff are not coming into work when they have signs and symptoms protecting staff and patients from being at risk and spreading any infectious disease ( ex: influenza) to them.

[Margaret]

As a community RPN, I see surveillance occurring through routine monitoring of chronic conditions (e.g., diabetes and hypertension), medication reconciliation, incident reporting, and communicable disease tracking in collaboration with organizations like Public Health Agency of Canada. Important surveillance in my workplace includes early identification of infection outbreaks and changes in clients’ functional or cognitive status, as this allows timely intervention, prevents hospitalizations, and supports safe aging in place.

[Sheila]

In community home care, surveillance commonly includes monitoring infection rates (e.g., wound infections, respiratory illnesses), tracking staff illness/exposures, medication incident reporting, and documenting falls or adverse events. We also participate in immunization tracking and outbreak reporting when required.
Surveillance in home care is important because clients are often elderly, immunocompromised, or medically complex. Early identification of trends allows timely intervention, prevents spread between households, and supports client safety and continuity of care.

[Rachel]

The surveillance that I see working in long term care is monitoring for signs and symptoms of infectious diseases and trends in residents for example respiratory, as well as Ensuring hand hygiene and proper PPE is being utilized correctly in the home through audits.

What I see as important surveillance in the long term care home I work at is monitoring residents for these signs and symptoms of infectious diseases as catching it early is very important for that residents health as well as those around them such as fellow residents and staff members. Catching early signs and symptoms allows for registered staff to properly monitor them ( monitoring vitals and for other signs and symptoms) obtain samples early on to identify what the resident might have and being able to treat it through a doctors order. Resident surveillance also allows in protecting co residents and staff members as it helps in managing the spread of the infectious disease.

[Amanda]

Ongoing monitoring for signs of infection/illness. Staff are required to complete an initial risk assessment of residents. This determines if additional precautions are required and if the resident requires isolation.
Each year, our IPAC lead tracks our vaccine percentages for both staff and residents.
We keep track of percentages of UTIs, ARIs, wound infections, etc
Management will determine if additional staff training is required to help reduce the rate of infections.

[Munazzah]

Thank you, Amanda. All the surveillance measures you mentioned are extremely important for everyone’s safety and wellbeing. One point that you made that stands out to me is the surveillance of vaccination status for staff and client to ensure proper measures are in place in case of outbreak. Of course, this measure alone is not enough to reduce the risk of infection but in case of outbreak it can potentially save lives. Assessing the need for staff education is another important measure.

[Munazzah]

At my previous workplace I have seen both passive and active surveillance as psw staff actively engaged in reporting anything out of ordinary to nurses and infection control nurse routinely monitored all homes areas for any suspected outbreaks.
One key surveillance measure I witnessed was the monitoring of staff for symptoms. If a staff member called in sick, there were clear infection control protocols in place to ensure they could safely return to work. I truly appreciated that my workplace took these precautions, as it demonstrated a strong commitment to protecting everyone’s health, safety, and well-being.

[Author]

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