Practical Infection Control

Practical Infection Control

Overview

Infection control is a vitally important aspect of veterinary practice and the consequences of poor hygiene can be catastrophic.

Are your infection control standards measuring up? Are you doing enough to promote hygiene? Do you feel like your protocols need reviewing, but are not quite sure where to start?

This course will explore the key factors of infection control – from basic practice hygiene to clinical considerations as well as helping to achieve guidelines set within the RCVS practice standards.

Participants will be able to share their knowledge base and protocols with a view to gaining an understanding of the areas of strength and weakness in the delivery of infection control measures in their practice. This will lead to discussions on how improvements can be made to achieve best practice standards.

The flexibility of this course will allow each student to address their own practice situation and following study they will be able to reflect on the infection control risks in diagrammatical form, develop a biosecurity standard operating procedure and become the practice ‘infection control champion’.

Syllabus

Current challenges in infection control

Looking at individual and practice challenges
Identifying most urgent practice needs in infection prevention
Guidance and direction on creating an SOP

Cleaning and disinfection

From the waiting room to theatre – the fundamentals of basic cleaning and practice organisation
Common ‘danger’ zones in the practice
Selection of cleaning and disinfection products
Do ‘cleaning bombs’ work?
Use of disinfectants – dilution rates, contact time, chemistry rotation and safety
Selection of different disinfectants for different situations
Cleaning and disinfecting veterinary and patient equipment
Appropriate selection and use of cleaning equipment/tools
Use of colour-coding for equipment
Consulting room considerations

Hand hygiene

The five moments of hand hygiene
Hand washing techniques
Hand hygiene products and equipment
Scrub versus rub
Ensuring/checking efficacy of hand hygiene
Sanitiser stations
Which glove for which task?
Hand care to prevent skin damage
Managing client hand hygiene

Barrier nursing

Biosecurity and creating a tiered biosecurity system
Best practices in barrier nursing
Managing isolation facilities
Making the best of the facilities you have in your practice
Particular cases, such as Parvovirus and MRSA
Reverse barrier nursing
Creating a ‘barrier nursing pack’ fee

Correct use of personal protective equipment (PPE)

The variety of PPE available
To re-use or single use?
How to don and remove PPE effectively
Adhering to H+S and COSHH guidelines
Protecting staff and patients for ‘dirty’ procedures
Consulting room attire and PPE
Care of the veterinary team

Theatre

Managing the ops list to promote infection prevention
Infection control in-between patients
Moving from prep room to theatre – patients and equipment
Daily and deep cleaning of theatre
Specialised theatre wall coverings
Cleaning theatre equipment
Theatre attire and staff compliance
Theatre ‘etiquette’ and behaviour
Best practices in patient preparation
Draping the patient
Surgical equipment management
Post operative measures for infection and SSI prevention

Laundry

Correct procedures for patient bedding
Washing contaminated items
Staff uniforms
Special equipment for laundry

Implementation, compliance and monitoring

Creating a team approach to infection control
Education of all staff
Infection control as part of the induction process
Inter-staff training
Surveys and questionnaires
Constructing and using checklists
Promoting and monitoring adherence to protocols
Efficacy versus time – finding the balance
Performing an audit on infection control
Looking at results of C&S testing, swabbing of surfaces, ATP testing
Protocols when ‘sharing’ your practice with an OOH team
Client education

Course content covered will be dictated by the needs of the participants on the course, so you are able to raise any topics related to infection control that are relevant to you and your practice and team.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this module, successful candidates will be able to:

Appreciate current issues regarding infection control within their own clinic
Understand the concept of an infection control programme and its importance within clinical practice
Have confidence creating infection control SOPs and procedures for all areas of their clinic, and in implementing and managing these policies

Resources

Course resources include:

Access to our flexible online learning environment for the duration of the course
Lecture/s that can be viewed at any time, and as many times as you like
Interactive, tutor-guided learning forums
Supporting materials, tools and ideas for assisting with and supporting your learning
Assessed coursework with constructive feedback from your tutor
Practical documents created by you, tailored to the needs of your practice
Access to the course materials for a period after the course

Course Summary

Course duration: 3 weeks (8 hours flexible/self-directed study time)

Course type: Fully supported and interactive online learning with assessed coursework

Tutor: Emma Gerrard

Suitable for: Vets, veterinary nurses & technicians and students. Those in a leadership position in practice looking to update infection control protocols would also benefit from this course. Also anyone who has an interest in infection control protocols and procedures.

This course is accredited by AMTRA for 32 SQP CPD points.

Please advise at registration if you require these points.

£149.00

Your Tutor

Emma Gerrard

Dip AVN (SA) Dip HE CVN BSc (Hons) CVN RVN K-SQP PHC

Read tutor profile

Complete your purchase

Simply add the courses you wish to book to your shopping cart, also selecting the start dates of your choice. You will then be guided through the secure checkout to complete your purchase.

Fill out the registration form

Once payment is complete, you will receive an email asking for candidate details. Complete the form and submit. We must receive your registration in order to process your enrolment.

When do I start learning?

When you have successfully submitted your candidate registration, you will receive a confirmation message. You will be contacted prior to the course start date with information on how to join the VLE.

Have a question about this course?

See what some of our past candidates have said…

“I have found ONCORE an excellent pathway to help me achieve practical, evidence-based processes for our business. I would recommend ONCORE to any colleague who wants to use their CPD time and budget constructively.”

Laura Shaw

“I really enjoyed the course. It opened my mind to different aspects of infection control. The discussion forums are a great idea to encourage people to discuss any issues. The literature provided was very informative. The lectures were easy to listen to. The VLE was easy to understand due to the step by step guidance provided.”

Suzanne Flynn