December 2024
Dear All,
As 2024 ends, I would like to express my gratitude for all the work and accomplishments of this year. Beside the President of CBIC are a host of volunteers that make this organization work. We have folks who write items for our examinations and another group that reviews those items. This is the basis of what we do and without them, there would be no certification examinations. A special shoutout to those subject matter experts who worked tirelessly on our new certification, the Advanced Leadership Certification in Infection Prevention and Control (AL-CIP). Without their vast knowledge of infection prevention and control leadership, we would not have this new product. They put in many hours pulling together the matrix by which we measure the leadership skills in our field. Our beta testers did a wonderful job testing out our new certification this year and I am extremely grateful to them. Additionally, I must give thanks and gratitude to our AL-CIP portfolio reviewers, this is a tough job, and I am grateful for your knowledge and time.
I also want to express my gratitude to all the hard work of our CBIC ambassador, Shazia Irum, RN, MBA, CIC,CPHQ who works tirelessly to promote our mission and vision. I would be remiss if I did not express deep gratitude for our Board of Directors. What a fantastic group of people who have worked tirelessly this year to promote competency through certification and conduct the business of this Board. As your president, I am eternally grateful for your support and love. I want to express my gratitude for the executive team that keeps this machine rolling and moving forward. We would be lost without you.
Lastly, I want to express my gratitude to each of you that work tirelessly to keep patients and residents safe as they navigate the world of healthcare, you are so appreciated. As 2025 begins, another year of work is ahead of us. We will begin to conduct a job analysis, and it will be vitally important that we hear from all certified individuals. Without your input, we cannot keep our examinations current and relevant to the work that each of you do every day. Please watch for those announcements.
Our newest certification, the AL-CIP will launch on January 21, 2025 and we hope you see this as a great opportunity to showcase the work you have done to contribute to the field of infection prevention and the leadership you have provided. Please visit the CBIC website for additional information and resources.
We are fortunate to have new Board members coming on that will help guide us into the new year. We will begin our strategic planning for the next three years starting in June 2025. There is so much work to be done as we strive to continue our mission to provide pathways to demonstrate and maintain competence in infection prevention and control.
As I wrap up this year and my time as President ends, I want to reiterate how grateful I am for the support I have received. I want to congratulate our incoming President, Tiffany Wiksten and wish her the best for the new year. I will support you and our mission as we continue to envision a world free of infections through demonstrated professional competency. Thank you so much to all who have helped promote our mission and vision. I wish you health and happiness this holiday season.
Respectfully,
Andrea Flinchum, MPH, BSN, RN, CIC, LTC-CIP, FAPIC
2024 President Certification Board of Infection Control and Epidemiology