| CODE | NUR5135 | |||||||||
| TITLE | Driving Improvement in Infection Prevention and Control | |||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 05 - Postgraduate Modular Diploma or Degree Course | |||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 7 | |||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 10 | |||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Nursing | |||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | This study-unit explores the governance of infection prevention and control, the quality improvement in the detection and management of outbreaks of infection, incidence investigation, understanding behaviour and application of human factors and ergonomics to IPC. This study-unit aims to explore the role of health professionals in Infection Prevention and Control and their contribution in the improvement of prevention, control and management of infection development and any on-going transmission within the healthcare setting for patients and staff. Moreover, students will also investigate the range of evidence available to support infection prevention and control practices and the complex factors involved in staff adhering or not adhering to recommended Infection Prevention and Control guidelines and policies. Study-Unit Aims: The aims of the study-unit are to enable students to: - critically evaluate the theoretical background to the concept of improvement science in infection prevention and control; - develop critical awareness of quality improvement principles, approaches and application to infection prevention and control service delivery. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Critically discuss the concept of improvement science; - Compare and contrast quality improvement approaches and tools; - Critically evaluate the quality improvement journey within the context of the healthcare facility/ organisation of your area of work; - Critically reflect on the culture of quality infection prevention and control improvement in their organisation; - Utilise critical reflection of new learning to devise appropriate strategies to deliver quality improvement in the practice of infection prevention and control. 2. Skills By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Identify target areas for improvement through a risk assessment and analysis; - Develop effective strategies to improve quality through an infection prevention or Plan Do Study Act (PDSA) Model for Improvement; - Analyze how the facility is collecting, tracking, analyzing, interpreting, and acting on the data; - Determine what processes can be modified to improve outcomes; - Determine what data to collect for an improvement focus area, and how/when the data is reported; - Identify potential barriers related to the problem or process to improve; - Prepare, write, and evaluate the implementation of a healthcare facility Infection Prevention and Control improvement plan. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: Main Texts: - Bennett, J. V., Jarvis, W. R., & Brachman, P. S. (Eds.). (2007). Bennett & Brachman's hospital infections. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. - Kohn LT, Corrigan JM, Donaldson MS, eds. (Committee on Quality of Health Care in America, Institute of Medicine). To err is human: building a safer health system - Washington, DC, USA: National Academies Press; 2000. Supplementary Readings: - Allegranzi B, Nejad SB, Combescure C, Graafmans W, Attar H, Donaldson L, et al. Burden of endemic health-care-associated infection in developing countries: Systematic review and meta-analysis. Lancet 2011;377:228–41. (avalaible online )https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(10)61458-4. - Cassini A, Plachouras D, Eckmanns T, Abu Sin M, Blank HP, Ducomble T, et al. Burden of Six Healthcare-Associated Infections on European Population Health: Estimating Incidence-Based Disability-Adjusted Life Years through a Population Prevalence-Based Modelling Study. PLoS Med 2016;13:1–16. (avalaible online) https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002150. - Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Stemming the superbug tide: just a few dollars more. Paris: OECD Publishing; 2018. (avalaible online) https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264307599-en%0Ahttp://www.oecd.org/unitedstates/Stemming-the-Superbug-Tide-in-the-US.pdf%0Ahttps://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/social-issues-migration-health/stemming-the-superbug-tide_9789264307599-en. - Suetens C, Latour K, Kärki T, Ricchizzi E, Kinross P, Moro ML, et al. Prevalence of healthcare-associated infections, estimated incidence and composite antimicrobial resistance index in acute care hospitals and long-term care facilities: Results from two european point prevalence surveys, 2016 to 2017. Eurosurveillance 2018;23:1–18. (avalaible online) https://doi.org/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2018.23.46.1800516. - Price L, MacDonald J, Melone L, Howe T, Flowers P, Currie K, et al. Effectiveness of national and subnational infection prevention and control interventions in high-income and upper-middle-income countries: a systematic review. Lancet Infect Dis 2018;18:e159–71. (avalaible online) https://doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(17)30479-6. - Storr J, Twyman A, Zingg W, Damani N, Kilpatrick C, Reilly J, et al. Core components for effective infection prevention and control programmes: New WHO evidence-based recommendations. Antimicrob Resist Infect Control 2017;6. (avalaible online) https://doi.org/10.1186/s13756-016-0149-9. - WHO. Minimum requirements for infection prevention and control programmes. Geneva: World Health Organization. 2019. (avalaible online) https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/330080/9789241516945-eng.pdf?ua=1 - WHO. Core competencies for infection prevention and control professionals. Geneva: World Health Organization: 2020. (avalaible online) https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/335821/9789240011656-eng.pdf?ua=1. - Wald H, Shojania KG. Root cause analysis. In: Shojania KG, Duncan BW, McDonald KM, et al, eds. Making Health Care Safer: A Critical Analysis of Patient Safety Practices. Evidence Report/Technology Assessment No. 43 from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality: AHRQ Publication No. 01-E058: 2001. ahrq.gov/research/findings/evidence-based-reports/ptsafetyuptp.html. - Institute for Healthcare Improvement. Failure Modes and Effects Analysis Tool. ihi.org/resources/Pages/Tools/FailureModesandEffectsAnalysisTool.aspx. - Khorafan F. Quality toolbox daily goals checklist: a goal-driven method to eliminate nosocomial infection in the intensive care unit. Journal of Healthcare Quality. 2008; 30(6):13-17. - Yokoe DS, Classen, D. Improving Patient Safety Through Infection Control: A New Healthcare Imperative. Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology. 2008; 29: Suppl 1. |
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| ADDITIONAL NOTES | Pre-Requisite qualifications: First Degree in a Health Science (Nursing, Medicine and all other related health sciences) Co-requisite Study-units: NUR5134 |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture, Independent Study, Seminar and Tutorial | |||||||||
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| LECTURER/S | Anthony Scerri Ermira Tartari Corinne Ward |
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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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