Episode 12 (Part 3): COVID-19 Lessons Learned – What Must Change
In Part 3 of this COVID-19 Lessons Learned series, Wayne Tucker explores the deeper, long-term implications of the pandemic and what healthcare systems must change to be better prepared moving forward.
This episode discusses:
• System-wide gaps revealed during COVID-19 across Canada
• Infection prevention capacity and readiness
• Workforce burnout, leadership, and accountability
• New healthcare construction and the critical role that infection control plays right from the start at the design stage
• Lessons that still apply across long-term care and acute care• Why meaningful change cannot be delayed
This conversation is intended for infection preventionists, infection control leads and managers, healthcare leaders, frontline staff, policymakers, and quality professionals committed to improving patient and resident safety.
🎙️ Infection Control Exchange Podcast
📍 Canada | Global perspectives
The holiday season brings increased risk for outbreaks across healthcare settings — especially in long-term care and acute care environments that never close.
In this special Christmas episode of the Infection Control Exchange Podcast, we focus on practical, frontline-informed strategies to help healthcare teams reduce outbreak risk during the holidays. From staffing challenges and increased visitors to environmental cleaning, hand hygiene, and early symptom recognition, this episode highlights what truly matters when systems are under pressure.
Whether you work in infection prevention, environmental services, nursing, leadership, or frontline care, this episode is a timely reminder that infection prevention and control don’t take a holiday.
🎧 Topics include:
• Holiday-related outbreak risks
• Practical prevention strategies
• Long-term care and acute care considerations
• The role of frontline teams during peak pressure periods
Episode 11 - COVID-19 Lessons Learned (Part 2 of 3) : LTC on the Front Lines
Part 2 of the COVID-19 Lessons Learned series explores the real-world operational challenges faced by infection prevention and control teams during the pandemic.
This episode focuses on how system design, workforce decisions, and shared responsibility affected outbreak management — particularly in long-term care. Topics include the importance of embedding infection control into new construction, the responsibilities that come with working in environments serving vulnerable populations, and the critical role of both staff and families in preventing transmission.
Key discussion areas include:
Infection prevention considerations in healthcare facility design
Workforce responsibility in caring for vulnerable populations
The importance of not attending work when symptomatic
The role families play in protecting residents by delaying visits when they are unwell
This episode builds on Part 1 and sets the stage for Part 3, which will examine long-term change, resilience, and future preparedness.
COVID-19, Infection Prevention, IPAC, Pandemic Preparedness, Long-Term Care, Outbreak Management, Patient Safety, Healthcare Leadership, Public Health, Healthcare Systems,Lessons Learned
COVID-19 Lessons Learned (Part 1 of 3): System Preparedness — What the Pandemic Exposed
In this episode, we begin a three-part exploration into what COVID-19 taught us about pandemic preparedness across long-term care, acute care, and the wider healthcare system. This series focuses on practical insights grounded in real experiences — not headlines — highlighting what frontline IPAC teams actually faced throughout the pandemic.
In Part 1, we discuss:
- Uneven preparedness across provinces and territories
- PPE shortages and supply chain fragility
- Human factors: communication, staffing, and training - Outbreak challenges in long-term care
- Importance of Pandemic and LTC planning
- Improvements since 2020
- Key gaps that still need attention before the next public-health emergency
This episode sets the foundation for Parts 2 and 3, which will explore specific themes in greater depth.
Follow the Infection Control Exchange Podcast for upcoming episodes in the COVID-19 Lessons Learned Series.
Bonus Episode – Colour-Changing Hand Sanitizer Concept
In this episode, host Wayne Tucker (MSc, EMBA, CIC, LTC-CIP) walks through the early development of a new colour-changing hand sanitizer designed to make hand hygiene more visible, teachable, and reliable in real-world settings.
Instead of focusing on dispensers or hardware, this product concept centers on what happens after the sanitizer is applied. The formulation temporarily changes colour on the hands, helping the user see which areas were well covered — and which were missed. This has potential applications in staff education, resident and patient engagement, audits, and real-time feedback on hand hygiene technique.
Wayne discusses:
• The problem of “invisible” hand hygiene and risks associated with missed areas (current frontline practice)
• How a colour-changing sanitizer could support training and daily frontline practice
• Potential use in any healthcare setting, including long-term care and acute care.
• Product development has global implications that could significantly transform the hand sanitizer industry.
• Early considerations for formulation, safety, and usability
• Next steps in moving this concept toward testing and development are support through partnerships and collaborations. Need to create a prototype that can be tested in the field at a limited number of healthcare settings.
This short episode provides a focused look at one hand hygiene innovation and the thinking behind turning a simple idea into a practical infection-prevention tool that can significantly reduce the transmission of infectious diseases by showing staff the areas they miss when applying hand sanitizer.
Hand Hygiene
Infection Prevention
Infection Control
IPAC
Healthcare innovation
Product development
Infection Control Exchange
Hand Sanitizer
Episode 9 — The Importance of a Point of Care Risk Assessment (PCRA)
A Point of Care Risk Assessment, or PCRA, is any interaction with a resident or patient in which healthcare workers make rapid decisions throughout their shift to reduce their risk of exposure:
• What is the risk of exposure?
• What PPE is required?
• Is this the right environment for this task?
• What precautions are needed based on what I see, hear, and know?
In this episode, I walk through the purpose of a PCRA, why it’s distinct from Routine Practices and Additional Precautions, and how frontline staff use PCRA as a real-time safety tool to protect residents, patients, and themselves.
We’ll cover:
✔ What a PCRA is and why it matters
✔ How frontline staff use PCRA thinking before every interaction
✔ The difference between PCRA and Routine Practices
✔ Practical examples from acute care, LTC, and community
✔ How PCRAs support safe workflows and reduce preventable exposures
This is a foundational concept in IPAC — and when done consistently, it strengthens safety culture, reduces transmission risk, and improves decision-making at every point of care.
Healthcare teams need PPE systems that adapt to real-world needs—not rigid designs that never fit the environment. After 23 years in infection control and healthcare leadership, I’ve seen the same challenges repeated across LTC, acute care, and community settings.
To solve this, I’m building a modular, configurable PPE storage system—a “LEGO-style” approach that allows gloves, masks, gowns, wipes, face shields, and other components to be rearranged, removed, added, or replaced in seconds.
The next step is developing a full CAD-engineered, 3D-printed prototype.
To make this possible, I’m seeking:
1️⃣ Engineering or Capstone Teams
– Schools of engineering, design, CAD, product development
– Looking for a meaningful, real-world innovation project
2️⃣ Sponsors & Industry Partners
- GOJO, Diversey/Solenis, Virox, Medline, Clorox Healthcare, Sani Marc, Cardinal Health, 3M, Ecolab, and others
– Funding or material support for prototype development
3️⃣ Healthcare Pilot Sites
- Extendicare, Shannex, Revera, Northwood, Bayshore, Nova Scotia Health, Horizon, Acute Care & LTC partners
– For real-world testing and workflow validation
If your organization is interested in collaborating, sponsoring, or piloting this modular PPE system, I’d be happy to connect.
📩 Contact:
Wayne Tucker, MSc, EMBA, CIC, LTC-CIP
Founder – Infection Control Exchange Ecosystem
tuckerwayne100@gmail.com
Let’s build infection-control tools that actually work for healthcare teams.
Episode 8 – Who I Am & How I Support Healthcare Organizations
In this special episode of The Infection Control Exchange, I take a step back from the technical topics and share more about my background, my journey in infection prevention, and the hands-on support I provide across long-term care, acute care, and community settings.
In this episode, I discuss:
• My education, credentials, and professional experience
• How I approach IPAC challenges in real-world environments
• Guiding teams through inspections, audits, and compliance work
• Lessons learned from outbreaks and complex cases
• Supporting frontline teams, leaders, and quality programs
• Why I design practical tools, workflows, and educational products
• The purpose and vision behind The Infection Control Exchange Ecosystem
If you’re considering IPAC consulting, leadership support, outbreak assistance, or practical problem-solving for your organization, this episode is the best introduction to how I can help.
🎙 Hosted by: Wayne Tucker (MSc, EMBA, CIC, LTC-CIP)
Episode 7 - Inspections and Compliance: A Practical Guide for IPAC Leaders
In this episode of The Infection Control Exchange, host Wayne Tucker breaks down the realities of inspection and compliance in long-term care, drawing from years of firsthand experience with Ministry of Health inspections.
Inspections often create anxiety — but they don’t have to. With the right approach, inspections can become opportunities to strengthen your infection prevention program, improve communication, and demonstrate system control.
This episode explores:
• Why inspectors enter long-term care homes and what they evaluate
• How to set a professional, positive tone the moment they arrive
• The importance of timely and organized documentation
• Proactive rounding during inspections — and why it matters
• Communicating effectively and avoiding defensiveness
• Developing corrective action plans inspectors can trust
• Turning inspection findings into a long-term quality improvement strategy.
Whether you’re an IPAC professional, healthcare leader, or LTC administrator, this episode offers practical guidance to help you navigate inspections with clarity, confidence, and leadership.
A successful inspection occurs when the team works together to build an IPAC culture. When you have achieved that culture, you are ready for anything, including an LTC inspection. You are doing what you do y
🎧 The Infection Control Exchange — advancing infection prevention culture, leadership, and practical education.
🎙️ Episode 6 — A Day in the Life of an Infection Preventionist
What does a typical day look like for an Infection Prevention and Control (IPAC) professional? In this two-part episode, Wayne Tucker walks through a realistic day in the life of an Infection Preventionist/IPAC Professional working in long-term care — from proactive surveillance and communication to managing an emerging outbreak.
Part 1:
A regular Monday begins with reviewing PCR swabs and weekend lab results, following up with Public Health as needed, and checking on symptomatic residents. Wayne shares how daily routines like supply checks, PPE readiness, and staff rounding help maintain a strong infection control culture and relationships across all departments.
Part 2:
An ordinary day quickly shifts when new symptomatic cases arise and an outbreak is declared. Wayne covers the immediate response — outbreak signage, team huddles, Public Health coordination, submitting line lists, enhanced disinfecting for high touch areas, and real-time communication updates with staff, families, and medical teams.
This episode captures the fast-paced, multidisciplinary nature of infection prevention — where every action, connection, and decision helps protect residents, staff and visitors.
🎧 Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Amazon Music.
🦠 The Infection Control Exchange – advancing IPAC culture, leadership, and learning.
Even though hand hygiene remains one of the most effective infection control measures against the spread of infectious disease, compliance in healthcare settings continues to fall short worldwide. Why is something so simple still so difficult to sustain?
In this episode, Wayne Tucker explores the complex human, cultural, and system-level factors behind missed hand hygiene opportunities. From busy clinical environments and glove overreliance to gaps in leadership visibility and feedback culture, each segment examines why compliance remains a challenge not only in Nova Scotia and Canada, but across the globe.
Wayne also discusses how rapid workflow, poor technique, and short application times often lead to missed areas of the hands. He highlights evidence-based strategies to strengthen daily practice: real-time feedback, peer modelling, improved accessibility, and supportive leadership that normalizeshand hygiene as an expected professional reflex rather than a monitored task.
The episode closes with a key message: improving hand hygiene isn’t a campaign — it’s a cultural movement. When healthcare organizations combine strong systems, positive reinforcement, and human-centered design, hand hygiene performance becomes part of the DNA of safe care.
Hosted by Wayne Tucker, The Infection Control Exchange.
In this episode of The Infection Control Exchange, host Wayne Tucker explores what it truly means to build an Infection Prevention and Control (IPAC) culture that goes beyond policies and procedures.
From leadership visibility to staff engagement, Wayne discusses how strong IPAC cultures are reflected in daily practice, not just written standards and policies. He shares real-world insights from long-term care and healthcare leadership—illustrating how small, consistent actions shape safer environments for residents, patients, and staff.
Topics include:
- The role of leadership visibility, recognition, and modelling behaviour
- Overcoming common barriers like compliance fatigue and communication gaps
- Sustaining engagement and collaboration for IPAC beyond outbreak periods to be part of daily routines to protect vulnerable residents and patients.
Whether you’re an IPAC professional, quality leader, or healthcare manager, this episode will inspire reflection on how to strengthen infection prevention culture across your team or organization.
Listen now and join the IPAC conversation.
In this episode of Infection Control Exchange, Wayne Tucker explores what’s working — and what still needs improvement — in infection prevention and control across healthcare environments. Drawing from experience and data, he discusses real-world challenges, system gaps, and examples of successful practices that are making a measurable difference in patient and staff safety.
🎧 Host: Wayne Tucker, MSc, EMBA, LTC-CIP, CIC
💡 Theme: Leadership, infection control, quality, and lessons learned from the field
National Infection Control Week (NICW)
To celebrate NICW (Oct 20–24, 2025), I share simple ways teams can engage—daily micro-activities, friendly contests, and quick wins that keep hand hygiene and donning/doffing PPE awareness top-of-mind while protecting residents, patients, and colleagues. It is an opportunity this week to draw attention to the critical role of infection control in reducing the transmission of infectious diseases within facilities like hospitals, long-term care homes, etc. We all play a daily role in infection control, which protects vulnerable residents and patients.
Keywords: infection control, infection prevention, IPAC, patient safety, outbreak management, hand hygiene, healthcare leadership, Halifax, public health
Welcome to the debut episode of The Infection Control Exchange, a podcast dedicated to advancing infection prevention, control, and healthcare quality improvement.
In this first episode, host Wayne Tucker, BA, MSc (Psych), EMBA, MSc (IPAC), CIC, LTC-CIP shares his journey through infection prevention and control — from his early experiences to his leadership roles across acute care, public health, primary care and long-term care environments. Wayne reflects on lessons learned, professional milestones, and the evolving standards that continue to shape infection prevention practice across Canada and beyond.
The discussion also highlights the ongoing importance of vaccines — both COVID-19 and influenza — in healthcare and community protection. Wayne explores vaccine uptake, challenges in public perception, and how infection control professionals can support evidence-based dialogue with staff, residents, patients, and families.Listeners will also get a preview of upcoming episodes covering:
Whether you’re an infection control professional, healthcare leader, or someone passionate about quality and safety, The Infection Control Exchange aims to connect practice with purpose. Expect authentic conversations, evidence-informed discussions, and practical insights that strengthen the collective work of infection prevention professionals.
🎧 Host: Wayne Tucker, BA, MSc (Psych), EMBA, MSc (IPAC), CIC, LTC-CIP
🎙️ Episode: 1 – Introduction and Vaccines
📍 Location: Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
💡 The Infection Control Exchange — Conversations that advance infection prevention, leadership, and healthcare quality.