This is a show

about the academic and experiential diversity of people working in patient safety.

The story begins with me leaving my hospital infection preventionist (IP) job as the COVID pandemic was winding down. I struggled to find work and a reason that popped up a few times was my lack of nursing credentials. In my own (angry) words, did 14 years of experience, certified in infection control (CIC), and being a Fellow of APIC mean nothing compared to registered nurse (RN)?

I reached out for morale support and my friend, wrote a LinkedIn post and a magazine article that caught a lot of attention. Many comments on LinkedIn were from people in my situation.

An encouraging team of friends helped me take this pain and turn it into a podcast. I get to sit down with friends and colleagues and talk about how they ended up in healthcare quality, patient safety, and infection prevention. We share stories and discuss how to improve diversity in the patient safety spectrum.

Mission

  • Celebrate credential, educational, and experiential diversity 

  • Share the values and success stories of non-traditional staff in quality, patient safety, and infection prevention  

  • Advocate for competency-based (versus credential limited) hiring 

  • Increase awareness of the importance of the IP and other roles in the healthcare safety sector

A Message from the Host

Why should you listen?

You will hear guests share their career paths, hiring and retention challenges, professional experiences, and personal insights. You will hear:

• First-hand accounts of what IPs do and how they get there

• Advocates for diversity in quality, patient safety, and IP

• Stories to re-energize existing IPs

• Stories that inspire listeners into considering IP as a career

Ivan Gowe

BSMT, MS, CIC, FAPIC, CPHQ

Ivan is a medical laboratory scientist, turned infection preventionist (IP). He has worked in IP since 2008. Most of his experience is in acute care community hospitals and their outpatient services. He currently works as contractor for a state health department, a position that exposes him to IPs in diverse healthcare settings and from many backgrounds. He has served on several professional and community boards, including Certification Board for Infection Control (CBIC), NC Association for Professionals in Infection Control (APIC), and Camplify NC.

When he is not working, he enjoys running, fitness, motorcycling, good books, music, and watching unrealistic television shows, especially ones with explosions.

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