Credentialling in Australia for infection prevention and control: Philosophy, principles and practice.

Infection prevention and control programs are vital to ensuring the health and wellbeing of healthcare consumers and staff. Infection control professionals who lead these programs are uniquely positioned with the knowledge, skills and attributes to direct effective infection control practices and policies within their healthcare setting. As with many specialisations, these individuals may choose to undertake a credentialling process, where their expertise and competence are evaluated and formally recognised by a professional body.

The role of online marketing to engage healthcare workers with infection prevention and control information and resources: A pilot study.

Background: The successful adoption and application of infection prevention and control (IPC) principles in all healthcare settings is dependent on the degree to which healthcare workers (HCWs) are aware of the requirements, have access to program resources and information, and engage with the IPC program. This study investigates the impact of redesigning the Infection Control Department (ICD) intranet site based on user feedback followed by a targeted marketing campaign to improve website usability, awareness, and access.

Methods: In this systematic study, we used a survey plus two focus group interviews to elicit user requirements for the content and look of the ICD intranet page and identify the best communication platforms to use for the marketing campaign to launch the redesigned intranet page.

Infection control professionals' and infectious diseases physicians' knowledge, preparedness, and experiences of managing COVID-19 in Australian healthcare settings.

Background: COVID-19 has placed unprecedented demands on infection control professionals (ICPs) and infectious disease (ID) physicians. This study examined their knowledge, preparedness, and experiences managing COVID-19 in the Australian healthcare settings.

Methods: A cross-sectional study of ICPs and ID physician members of the Australasian College for Infection Prevention and Control (ACIPC) and the Australasian Society for Infectious Diseases (ASID) was conducted using an online survey.

COVID-19 in Australia: our national response to the first cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection during the early biocontainment phase.

Background: On 31 December 2019, the World Health Organization recognised clusters of pneumonia-like cases due to a novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19). COVID-19 became a pandemic 71 days later.

Aim: To report the clinical and epidemiological features, laboratory data and outcomes of the first group of 11 returned travellers with COVID-19 in Australia.

Scope of practice and educational needs of infection prevention and control professionals in Australian residential aged care facilities.

Background: Healthcare-associated infections are serious and significant complications present across healthcare services, including residential aged care facilities. Although ensuring high quality personal and clinical care delivered to older people residing in these facilities is a high national priority, there is a paucity of evidence published about outbreaks, governance and education programs held for healthcare workers within Australian residential aged care facilities. The aim of this study is to examine the scope of practice of Infection Prevention and Control professionals within Australian residential aged care facilities and the types of infection prevention and control education and training delivered.

Global burden, point sources, and outbreak management of healthcare-associated infections: An integrative review.

Objective: To examine the global burden, associated point sources, and successful prevention and control measures for documented outbreaks of Burkholderia cepacia healthcare-associated infections (HAIs).

Design: Integrative review.

Methods: A review of all outbreaks of Burkholderia cepacia HAIs published in the peer-reviewed literature between January 1970 and October 2019 was conducted to identify the global burden, associated point sources, and successful prevention and control measures using the Guidelines for Outbreak Reports and Intervention Studies of Nosocomial Infections (ORION).

Impact of electronic healthcare-associated infection surveillance software on infection prevention resources: a systematic review of the literature.

Background: Surveillance of healthcare-associated infections is fundamental for infection prevention. The methods and practices for surveillance have evolved as technology becomes more advanced. The availability of electronic surveillance software (ESS) has increased, and yet adoption of ESS is slow.

The burden of healthcare-associated infection in Australian hospitals: A systematic review of the literature.

Introduction: Central to all efforts to control and prevent healthcare associated infections (HAIs) is the inherent need to measure the burden of infection and disease, classically referred to as surveillance. Australia does not have a national HAI surveillance system making it very difficult to systematically assess and report on the burden of hospital-acquired HAIs. This systematic review reports the incidence burden of HAIs in Australian hospitals as reported in the peer-reviewed literature from 2010 to 2016.

Outbreak of health care-associated Burkholderia cenocepacia bacteremia and infection attributed to contaminated sterile gel used for central line insertion under ultrasound guidance and other procedures.

Background: We report an outbreak of Burkholderia cenocepacia bacteremia and infection in 11 patients predominately in intensive care units caused by contaminated ultrasound gel used in central line insertion and sterile procedures within 4 hospitals across Australia.

Methods: Burkholderia cenocepacia was first identified in the blood culture of a patient from the intensive care unit at the Gold Coast University Hospital on March 26, 2017, with 3 subsequent cases identified by April 7, 2017. The outbreak response team commenced investigative measures.

Exploring the context for effective clinical governance in infection control.

Background: Effective clinical governance is necessary to support improvements in infection control. Historically, the focus has been on ensuring that infection control practice and policy is based on evidence, and that there is use of surveillance and auditing for self-regulation and performance feedback. There has been less exploration of how contextual and organizational factors mediate an infection preventionists (IP's) ability to engage with evidence-based practice and enact good clinical governance.

Credentialing of Australian and New Zealand infection control professionals: An exploratory study.

Background: Despite evidence from overseas that certification and credentialing of infection control professionals (ICPs) is important to patient outcomes, there are no standardized requirements for the education and preparation of ICPs in Australia. A credentialing process (now managed by the Australasian College of Infection Prevention and Control) has been in existence since 2000; however, no evaluation has occurred.

Methods: A cross-sectional study design was used to identify the perceived barriers to credentialing and the characteristics of credentialed ICPs.

Hospital infection control units: staffing, costs, and priorities.

Background: This article describes infection prevention and control professionals' (ICPs') staffing levels, patient outcomes, and costs associated with the provision of infection prevention and control services in Australian hospitals. A secondary objective was to determine the priorities for infection control units.

Methods: A cross-sectional study design was used.

Rickettsia rickettsii in Rhipicephalus ticks, Mexicali, Mexico.

Circulation of a unique genetic type of Rickettsia rickettsii in ticks of the Rhipicephalus sanguineus complex was detected in Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico. The Mexican R. rickettsii differed from all isolates previously characterized from the endemic regions of Rocky Mountain spotted fever in northern, central, and southern Americas.

Predicting influenza A and 2009 H1N1 influenza in patients admitted to hospital with acute respiratory illness.

Objective: To create a clinical decision tool for suspected influenza A (including 2009 H1N1) to facilitate treatment and isolation decisions for patients admitted to hospital with an acute respiratory illness from the emergency department (ED) during a 2009 H1N1 pandemic.

Methods: Cross-sectional study conducted in two hospitals in Queensland, Australia. All patients admitted to hospital from the ED between 24 May and 16 August 2009 with an acute respiratory illness were included.

Surgeons' perspectives on surgical wound infection rate data in Queensland, Australia.

Background: The results of the Study on the Efficacy of Nosocomial Infection Control (SENIC) project demonstrated that hospitals with active infection control programs had lower rates of nosocomial infection than those without such programs. A key component of these programs was the inclusion of a systematic method for monitoring nosocomial infection and reporting these infections to clinicians.

Objectives: To identify the perspectives of surgeons in Queensland, Australia, regarding infection rate data in terms of its accuracy and usefulness as well as their perceptions regarding acceptable infection rates for surgical procedures classified as "clean" or "contaminated.