COURSE OVERVIEW:
Infection control is a health and safety issue. All people working in the health and social care settings are responsible for providing a safe environment for clients and the workforce.
Infection prevention and control is a scientific approach and practical solution designed to prevent harm caused by infection to clients and workers. This approach is grounded in infectious diseases, epidemiology, social science and health system strengthening.
Infection can occur when pathogens ('germs') such as bacteria, viruses, protozoa or fungi get into or onto the body. It can take some time before the microbes multiply enough to trigger symptoms of illness, which means an infected person may unwittingly be spreading the disease during this incubation period.
Infection control aims to prevent pathogens from coming into contact with a person in the first place. Employers are obliged under the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 to provide a safe workplace for their employees, including the provision of adequate infection control procedures and the right equipment and training.
Every year, a large number of Australians suffer from infections which require medical attention. Infection prevention and control practices aim to prevent and/or stop the spread of disease-causing germs to others.
Infection prevention and control is fundamental in improving the safety and quality of care provided to patients and is everyone’s responsibility. It is vital that all staff have the necessary knowledge, understanding and skills in order to continue to improve the overall safety and quality of client care.
Ensuring strict infection prevention and control practice in health and social care settings is essential in order to stop the development or further spread of infection.
This course is designed for workers to participate in safe practices for infection control, to ensure their own health and safety, and that of others in work environments that involve caring directly for clients. It applies to all workers who require knowledge of workplace health and safety (WHS) to carry out their own work, in health and social care settings.
The first part of this course discusses the principles of infection control including the chain of infection, the body’s defence mechanisms and the strategies to control health and social care associated infection. Then includes topics on hand hygiene, proper hand-washing techniques, and the use of alcohol-based hand sanitisers. The barriers to proper hand hygiene are reviewed. Then differentiates between standard, airborne, droplet, and contact precautions. There is discussion on caring for the immune-compromised patient. Finally, standard precautions and transmission-based precautions are discussed.
The second part explains how to follow standard precautions to prevent the spread of infection. Also, explains how to identify situations when additional infection control procedures are required. Then discusses how to apply additional precautions when standard precautions are not sufficient to prevent transmission of infection. Finally, discusses how to identify risks of infection and report them according to workplace procedures.
LEARNING OUTCOMES:
By the end of this course, you will be able to understand:
· The principles of infection control
· The chain of infection
· The body’s defence mechanisms
· The strategies to control health and social care associated infection
· The control or elimination of the infectious agent
· The control of transmission
· The reservoir control
· The basic infection control
· The technique for hand washing
· The technique for applying alcohol-based hand rub
· The factors influencing hand-hygiene practices
· The risk factors to poor adherence to hand-hygiene practices
· The self-reported factors for poor adherence with hand hygiene
· The technique for open gloving
· The technique for gowning and closed gloving
· The droplet, airborne and contact precautions
· The immunocompromised patients
· The causes of an increase in nosocomial infections
· The standard precautions to prevent the spread of infection
· The standard infection control procedures
· When should health and social care workers wash their hands?
· The methods of hand washing
· What is commonly missed in hand washing?
· The steps for washing hands
· The aseptic practices and the measures followed to achieve asepsis
· The disposal of sharps
· The laboratory specimens
· The blood and body substance spills
· How to use a spills kit?
· The non-hazardous spills
· The infection control policies and procedures
· The safe handling and disposal of potentially infectious materials
· What is waste? And what are the categories of waste?
· How to handle pathology specimens?
· What is medical waste?
· What is cytotoxic waste?
· The additional infection control procedures
· How to apply additional precautions to prevent transmission of infection?
· How to identify and report risks of infection?
· How infection can happen?
· The ways to break the chain of infection
· The types of infection risks
· How people are infected?
· The nosocomial infections and the sites and causes of nosocomial infections
· Food handling and the steps to follow when preparing or serving food
· How to handle soiled linen?
· The environmental controls
· How to identify other sources of infection?
· Risk assessment and management
COURSE DURATION:
The typical duration of this course is approximately 3-4 hours to complete. Your enrolment is Valid for 12 Months. Start anytime and study at your own pace.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
You must have access to a computer or any mobile device with Adobe Acrobat Reader (free PDF Viewer) installed, to complete this course.
COURSE DELIVERY:
Purchase and download course content.
ASSESSMENT:
A simple 10-question true or false quiz with Unlimited Submission Attempts.
CERTIFICATION:
Upon course completion, you will receive a customised digital “Certificate of Completion”.