CIC (AAPC) case studies
CIC · Put your knowledge to work in context.
The Certification in Infection Control (CIC) is a professional credential for practitioners who direct or carry out infection prevention and control programs - typically IPs in hospitals, long-term care, ambulatory surgery, public health, and related settings. The exam tests the breadth of the role rather than a single clinical skill: recognizing infectious disease processes, running surveillance and epidemiologic investigations, applying transmission-based precautions and isolation practices, supporting employee/occupational health, managing programs and communicating with leadership, delivering education and consuming research, maintaining the environment of care, and overseeing cleaning, disinfection, and sterilization. The CIC case studies are 5 cases and about 2,951 words.
1Post-Operative Fever Cluster on an Orthopedic Unit
Over 11 days, four patients who underwent total knee arthroplasty in the same operating suite develop wound drainage and low-grade fever (38.1-38.6 C) between postoperative days 5 and 9. Three grow Staphylococcus aureus ; two are methicillin-resistant.
642 words, about 3 min2Needlestick with an Unknown Source Patient
A night-shift nurse sustains a hollow-bore needlestick while recapping a needle after drawing blood from an unresponsive patient in the emergency department. The patient has no identification and is intubated.
604 words, about 3 min3Elevated Legionella in a Transplant Unit's Water
Routine quarterly water sampling in a hospital's hematopoietic stem cell transplant unit returns Legionella pneumophila serogroup 1 at 4 CFU/mL from the unit's hot water system distal outlets. The unit has 12 inpatient rooms and serves highly immunocompromised patients.
586 words, about 3 min4Sterile Processing Failure Discovered After the Fact
A sterile processing technician reports that a load of orthopedic instrument sets was released after a cycle in which the biological indicator was incubated but read at 18 hours instead of the manufacturer's required 24 hours. The load was used in three orthopedic cases the following morning.
597 words, about 3 min5Influenza Vaccination Declination Among Staff
A 300-bed community hospital has a staff influenza vaccination rate of 68%, below its target of 90%. Declinations are concentrated among night-shift nursing staff and environmental services workers.
522 words, about 3 min