Rome · Infection prevention, digital and AI

Protocols rarely fail.Implementation does.

I’m Małgorzata Wachocka. For seventeen years I have worked inside one of Italy’s largest university hospitals, turning infection-prevention rules into daily practice. Now I help hospitals get ready for, and build, the digital and AI tools that will support it.

Hospital hygiene
17 yrs
Peer-reviewed papers
11
Teaching since
2008
Languages
IT · PL · EN
Małgorzata Wachocka in a white lab coat, arms crossed
Legionella and water safetyIndoor airControlled roomsConstruction riskDevice reprocessingHand hygieneGlove stewardshipDigital surveillanceAI readinessPatient safetyImplementation scienceLegionella and water safetyIndoor airControlled roomsConstruction riskDevice reprocessingHand hygieneGlove stewardshipDigital surveillanceAI readinessPatient safetyImplementation science

Where AI meets the ward

AI is the top layer, not a shortcut.

Digital surveillance and AI can make infection prevention faster and sharper. They only work when the layers underneath are sound. I work across all four, so tools land on wards that are ready for them.

AI and decision support

Early warning, risk prediction, automated audit and monitoring. Useful only when the layers below are sound.

  • Early-warning alerts
  • Risk prediction
  • Automated audit

Expertise

The hospital is one risk system.

Patients meet water, air, surfaces, devices and hands all at once. Most hospitals manage them in silos, with data in five different places. I look at them together.

Legionella and water safety

Water

Legionella risk lives in pipes, taps and showers long before it shows up in a patient. I help teams build surveillance that finds it early and turns sampling results into decisions.

Digitalrisk-based sampling schedules, rapid PCR screening and one dashboard for every outlet.

Research in data

My research, made visible.

Results from my peer-reviewed papers, redrawn so a busy manager can read them in a minute. Every chart links to its source.

Hands · 2024

What 542 colleagues know about hand hygiene

  • Knows not to sanitise after touching only the surroundings0%
  • Average across 12 knowledge questions0%
  • Knows whether hand rubbing beats hand washing0%
  • 0%
    usually use alcohol-based hand rub
  • 0%
    trained in the last three years
  • 0%
    response rate: 542 of 6,749 staff
Devices · 2021

A checklist that found the gaps

Round 1Round 2
Ward A Excellent on every item Excellent on every item
Ward B Gaps found Improved after corrective action
Ward C Gaps found Improved after corrective action

Microbiology on the devices

ICU bronchoscope
ICU bronchoscope
Endoscope reprocessor
Endoscope reprocessor

Unsatisfactory after round 1 Good after round 2

Self-assessment plus microbiology showed teams exactly where reprocessing had drifted, and proved the fix worked.

Source: Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci 2021

Małgorzata Wachocka in a white lab coat, hands in pockets

About

Seventeen years on the inside.

I work in hospital hygiene and infection control at a leading university hospital in Rome, teach future prevention professionals at Università Cattolica, and publish on what makes prevention work in real wards.

  1. 2008

    University lecturer, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore

    Teaching on the prevention health professions degree, Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, Rome. Still teaching today.

  2. 2009

    Hospital hygiene and infection control

    Prevention technician in the hospital hygiene team of Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS: HAI surveillance, environmental audit, Legionella and water safety, indoor air, construction risk.

  3. 2016

    Director of professional training

    Led practical training and placements for the degree in prevention techniques in the environment and workplaces, until 2023.

  4. 2021

    Proactive surveillance and device reprocessing

    Co-authored the proactive environmental surveillance model and the endoscope reprocessing checklist.

  5. 2023

    Master’s in Safety and Risk Management

    Teaching coordinator of the first-level Master’s in Safety and Risk Management for Public Health at Università Cattolica.

  6. Now

    Advisory work

    Alongside my hospital and university roles, I bring seventeen years of practice to organisations that want prevention to work on the ward, not just on paper.