1. Tell us about your experience putting together your portfolio for the AL-CIP?
I found the experience of putting my portfolio together personally very satisfying. As Infection Preventionists, we continually value process improvement and patient safety. Compiling evidence and rationale around those efforts reminded me of the positive progress we have made towards those values and my role in leading those efforts.
2. Can you provide tips for writing a successful rationale?
When writing rationales, focus on your specific contributions, why you felt the initiative was needed or the gap it addressed, how you lead others to successfully address the need, and address the specific competencies and sub-competency requirements.
3. What advice would you give to someone considering the AL-CIP?
I would recommend starting by writing down all the projects and initiatives you have led or co-led to improve patient care, reduce infections, support Infection Preventionists or Infection Prevention program, or contributed to your professional development or the development of others, and determine which competency and sub-competency they most closely align with. Give yourself plenty of time to write, review, and re-review your rationales and ask others to review them for objective feedback. If there is a competency or sub-competency that you feel you do not have evidence or a rationale for, think about a project you could initiate to address a need within your organization or IP program to meet those objectives. Know that all the work you have done and continue doing is valuable and is evidence of your positive impact.
4. What does earning your AL-CIP mean to you?
Earning the AL-CIP is meaningful to me as both a professional and personal accomplishment. I am very passionate about Infection Prevention and am so thankful that I have the opportunity to lead an Infection Prevention program.
