Attn: Nursing Home Providers
Immunity Documentation for Healthcare Personnel in the Long-Term Care Setting
As part of the Division’s commitment to Teach, Learn, and Collaborate, the Division of Quality Assurance (DQA) is sharing the following resource to support the collection and management of healthcare personnel (HCP) evidence of immunity or vaccination status records.
Maintaining accurate and accessible health inventory records HCP is essential to ensure rapid response during outbreaks, reduce operational disruptions, and protect residents and staff in long-term care (LTC) settings.
Current Challenge:
Many LTC facilities do not consistently document immunity status upon employment, making it difficult to quickly identify susceptible staff during infectious disease exposures.
Recommendation:
The Wisconsin Healthcare-Associated Infection (HAI) in LTC Coalition supports implementation of secure systems to manage HCP vaccination records. The WI HAI in LTC Coalition has conducted a review of the standards and guidelines to provide key recommendations that LTC providers may find helpful when reviewing organizational processes for gathering HCP vaccination status or evidence of immunity. Essential HCP records include, but may not be limited to:
- Immunity status (e.g., documented disease, vaccination history, or serology)
- Vaccines administered during employment
- Any adverse events following immunization
The Healthcare Personnel Health Inventory Recommendations Resource Document was developed to inform LTC providers of current state and federal requirements and current nationally recognized standards. These resources are beneficial to determine the content of a health inventory used to collect evidence of immunity to vaccine-preventable diseases recommended for HCP.
Why It Matters:
Implementing a process to systematically collect this important HCP data will assist you in the development of your organization’s Infection Prevention and Control Program and Emergency Preparedness and Response strategies. Clear documentation helps avoid unnecessary furlough and maintains staffing during outbreaks.
For example:
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Varicella: Exposed, unvaccinated HCP may need to be excluded from work for up to 14 days.
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Measles: HCP without immunity must be excluded from day 5 to day 21 post-exposure, even with post-exposure prophylaxis.
Proactive immunization documentation is a practical, cost-effective strategy that protects residents, staff, and operations.
Additional resources may be found on the Wisconsin Healthcare-Associated Infections in Long-Term Care Coalition Resources webpage.
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