2026 APIC Sierra Chapter Meetings

Presentation Title: Blind Spots in Healthcare-Associated C. difficile Prevention: What’s still tripping us up?
Guest Speaker: Doe Kley, RN, MPH, LTC-CIP, CIC

Overview: 

Despite sustained focus and decades of guidance, Clostridioides difficile remains the most common healthcare-associated infection and an ongoing challenge for hospitals. Many organizations have achieved meaningful reductions, yet “breakthrough” transmission persists—often driven not by lack of effort, but by overlooked operational blind spots.

This session examines where C. difficile prevention programs may still be faltering and why doing more of the same may no longer be enough. Drawing on evolving epidemiology, frontline workflow realities, and real-world IPC–EVS intersections, this webinar will highlight prevention gaps that have surfaced outside traditional playbooks. While environmental cleaning and disinfection will be explored in depth, the discussion will also address complementary blind spots, including but not limited to delayed identification and isolation, communication failures, diagnostic stewardship, and care transitions.

Participants will leave with practical, actionable strategies that emphasize universal controls, early interventions, and reliable execution across care transitions – closing gaps that matter for reducing hospital-onset C. difficile infections.

Objectives:

1. Illustrate the changing epidemiology of C. difficile.
2. Identify common blind spots in healthcare-associated C. difficile prevention.
3. Describe practical, evidence-informed strategies with a focus on environmental cleaning.

June 2026 – Educational Session

Presentation Title: C. auris Outbreak Investigation
Guest Speaker: Joi McMillon BSN, MBA HA, CRRN , WCC, CJCP, HACP-CMS, CIC

Overview: 

This presentation provides an overview of C. auris as an emerging multidrug-resistant healthcare pathogen and emphasizes why it poses a unique challenge for infection prevention due to its ability to spread efficiently, persist in the healthcare environment, colonize patients without symptoms, and resist multiple antifungal medications. It focuses on guiding healthcare professionals through a structured outbreak investigation process using surveillance, laboratory, and epidemiologic data while highlighting evidence-based containment strategies and multidisciplinary collaboration to prevent transmission across the healthcare continuum.

Objectives:

1. Recognize the epidemiology, transmission pathways, and healthcare risks associated with C. auris across multiple healthcare settings.
2. Develop a systematic outbreak investigation using surveillance data, laboratory findings, epidemiologic principles, and interdisciplinary collaboration.
3. Implement evidence-based containment strategies to interrupt transmission, protect vulnerable patients, and improve organizational preparedness for future outbreaks.