Healthcare Services must Ensure that Infection Prevention and Control are Part: Safe Patient Care Assignment, RCSI

Module Aims

This module aims to provide the student with a knowledge and understanding of the principles preventing the spread of infection as they pertain to all different departments and specialties in healthcare. This module forms part of the knowledge essential in order to build competency in the role of an IPCN.

Related Competencies – Core competencies for those working in Infection Control and /or Hygiene (ECDC, 2012)

• Elaborating and advocating an infection control program
• Contributing to risk management
• Performing audits of professional practices and evaluating performance
• Contributing to quality management
• Contributing to reducing antimicrobial resistance
• Identifying, investigating and managing outbreaks
• Decontamination and sterilization of medical devices
• Implementing infection control healthcare procedures
• Controlling environmental sources of infections
• Elaborating infection control interventions

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of the module the student will be able to:

1. Have knowledge of the evolution of infection prevention/ control
2. Be able to critically discuss the principles preventing the spread of infection within the hospital and community
3. Be familiar with the methods of investigating and controlling an outbreak of infection
4. Be familiar with the use of surveillance methods in infection prevention/ control
5. Have the ability to critically discuss notifiable diseases and their method of control
6. Have knowledge the management of infection prevention/ control in the immune-compromised patient
7. Have knowledge of all aspects of infection prevention/ control in both the Operating Theatre and CSSD
8. Be able to critically appraise all aspects of the role of the infection prevention/ control nurse within the multidisciplinary team and in different departments within the hospital with reference to the HIQA HCAI standards.

ASSIGNMENT

“Healthcare services must ensure that infection prevention and control are part of the routine delivery of care to protect people from preventable healthcare-associated infections and antimicrobial resistance. This includes how services identify any work practice, equipment, and environmental risks and put in place protective measures to improve the service provided”.

(HIQA, National Standards for infection prevention and control in community services 2018) Taking one example of a recognized infection prevention risk from your area of work, critically discuss this statement with reference to current literature, research, and government documents.