| CODE | NUR3520 | ||||||
| TITLE | Infection Control for Community Nurses | ||||||
| UM LEVEL | 03 - Years 2, 3, 4 in Modular Undergraduate Course | ||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 6 | ||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 2 | ||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Nursing | ||||||
| DESCRIPTION | This study-unit include the following presentations: 1) Infection Control in the community – Introduction This lecture will introduce the study-unit by providing an insight of the structure and functions of the infection prevention and control team. The emphasis for practicing infection prevention and control also in the community, rather than solely in acute healthcare settings, will be explained. The topics of interest included in the unit will be highlighted and discussed. 2) Microbiology Infection and disease are caused by micro-organisms. This presentation will attempt to provide an introduction to the subject, outlining basic properties and characteristics of micro-organisms. The correct method for sample collection and submission to the micro-biology laboratory will also be explained, together with methods used for identification and interpretation of reports providing valuable advice with organism identification and effective anti-microbial treatment. The issue of antimicrobial resistance and methods for preventing or minimizing this phenomenon will be discussed. 3) Infection and Disease – The dynamics of transmission and preventive measures Safe infection control practice not only requires knowledge of micro-organisms and the disease they cause, but also how they spread between humans. Infection, disease and surveillance will be discussed, placing particular emphasis on healthcare-associated types encountered during practice. The chain of infection will be explained together with infection prevention and control measures which should be adopted by healthcare workers to interrupt the process. Ultimately, an insight will be provided regarding the use of standard and additional precautions by practitioners to ensure both patient and healthcare worker safety. 4) The Immune System The human body provides its own effective defense mechanism against the continuous threat of micro-organisms, including the disease causing type. This lecture will explain the specific and non-specific defense mechanisms of the human body in an attempt to provide the practitioner with rationale behind actions taken during practice aimed at preventing and controlling infection. The topic of immunization, including the acquired type, and its important role in disease prevention will be discussed. Ultimately, immunosuppression and effective infection prevention and control measures to adopt when caring for patients suffering from this condition will be addressed. 5) Hand Hygiene Hand hygiene is regarded as the gold standard of infection prevention and control. However, alarmingly, literature also indicates that compliance with hand hygiene amongst healthcare workers, including nurses, is not satisfactory and hands are often not washed when required during clinical practice. In this presentation, the importance of hand hygiene will be discussed together with when, how and what to use in order to perform this technique effectively. 6) Personal protective equipment (PPE) Clinical healthcare practice, be it in a hospital or community setting, necessitates the use of PPE by healthcare workers to protect, the patient or healthcare worker or even both, from exposure to infectious micro-organisms commonly found in blood and other body fluid. Types of existing PPE, selection, donning and removal procedure, together with identifying which scenarios necessitate use of specific equipment will be explained to ensure competence in this field. 7) Decontamination Decontamination is regarded as an extremely important aspect in infection prevention and control. In healthcare practice, both the equipment and environment pose a risk for infection transmission if proper decontamination is not performed effectively when indicated. The three levels of decontamination commonly used in healthcare namely, cleaning, disinfection and sterilization will be discussed. Decontamination when dealing with multi-resistant healthcare organisms and spillage management will also be explained. 8) Laundry and clinical waste management Healthcare practice generates contaminated laundry and clinical waste, both of which expose both the practitioner and patients to a potential risk for infection if strict infection control recommendations are not followed. This presentation is intended to minimize this risk by providing insight on how to safely manage used contaminated laundry and also clinical waste during clinical practice, including the community setting. 9) Preventing urinary tract infection 10) Preventing gastrointestinal infection 11) Preventing intravenous device-associated infection 12) Preventing blood-borne pathogen infection 13) Preventing wound infection 14) Preventing respiratory tract infection The chosen titles for the above six presentations account for healthcare practice specialities and everyday scenarios commonly encountered by nurses in both acute and community settings. A detailed account of infection risk related to each healthcare topic will be provided, together with an insight of modern, recommended, evidence-based infection prevention and control practices, specifically geared towards ensuring patient safety. 15) Methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) MRSA is a multi-resistant organism which has been a threat in the acute hospital setting for more than two decades. It is evident that this organism is no longer confined to this setting and has nowadays also migrated into the community, thus necessitating appropriate precautions also in this healthcare sector. Needless to say, healthcare workers involved in patient care are required to maintain appropriate infection prevention and control measures to avoid cross-infection by this organism. This presentation will provide information on MRSA and differences between hospital and community acquired strains, colonization and infection, method of transmission, infection control principles, screening, movement of patients who are known to be infected, together with the treatment regime and its application. Study-unit Aims: This study-unit will introduce students to topics relating to infection control, and is aimed at developing understanding, knowledge and skills in infection control for community practice. It will reinforce the general principles of infection prevention and control and explore ways by which such principles may be implemented in different areas of community work including schools, homes and community health centres. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: • Identify key issues relating to the cause and transmission of infection. • Identify specific preventive control measures in various community settings. • Identify and implement procedures needed to manage individual infected patients. 2. Skills: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to demonstrate safe infection control practice in: • Hand hygiene • Aseptic technique • Use of personal protective equipment • Urinary catheter insertion and maintenance • Intravenous catheter maintenance Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: • Duggall, H. et al., 2002. Infection Control: A Handbook for Community. Nurses Whurr, Publishers, UK. • Lawrence, J. and May, D., 2003. Infection Control in the Community. Churchill Livingstone, UK. • McCulloch, J., 2005. Infection Control, Science, Management and Practice. Whurr Publishers, UK. • Wilson, J., 2006. Infection Control in Clinical Practice, 3rd Edition. Bailliere Tindall Elsevier, UK. |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture | ||||||
| METHOD OF ASSESSMENT |
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| LECTURER/S | Noel Abela Rodianne Abela Claire Farrugia |
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2025/6. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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