The premises of healthcare centres, diagnostic centres and other such medical care infrastructures are sanitised more than any other building and their equipment and tools are sterilised quite often. However, the chances of infection spreading are still quite high in such places. Healthcare facilities receive people with various health conditions, infections and ailments. Some infections, if left untreated, can even lead to deaths or irreversible damage to vital body organs. Therefore, infection control, prevention and management are crucial for healthcare organisations. To undertake this responsibility, Infection Control Nurses are employed by healthcare organisations. Since infection control and management is an important job, certified nurses need to enrol in an Infection Control Nurse Course to gain this specialisation. Below is everything you need to know about Infection Control Nurses.
What is the role of Infection Control Nurses?
Infection Control Nurses identify the possible infectious threats, the means of disease spread and hygiene-related issues in healthcare premises. They then create a plan accordingly and employ the best policies, practices and precautionary processes to prevent infectious diseases from spreading. They also develop an action plan to manage sudden outbreaks and minimise their impact. Their responsibility is to ensure the safety of patients, visitors, doctors, other nurses and staff working in a healthcare organisation.
What is the demand for Infection Control Nurses?
Observing the recent outbreak of the global pandemic COVID-19 and the spread of contagious diseases, like Ebola, the need for infection control, prevention and management has increased exponentially. This further spiked the demand for Infection Control Nurses to make the healthcare centres safe and infection-free for every visitor and worker.
Where do Infection Control Nurses work?
Infection Control Nurses work in various healthcare organisations and related facilities. This includes hospitals, diagnostic centres, nursing homes, ambulatory and outpatient care centres, home care and hospice, long-term care centres, public health departments, emergency preparedness organisations, etc.
How to become an Infection Control Nurse?
Though every profession related to healthcare and medicine holds responsibility, being an Infection Control Nurse is one of the most important jobs. Therefore, only the certified nurses who have some work experience can go for this specialisation. Infection Control Nurse Courses are offered by recognised bodies like CAHO (Consortium of Accredited Healthcare Organisations). Interested nurses can visit CAHO’s website to check eligibility, course content and other details. CAHO offers many other such Hospital Training Programmes for the training and upskilling of healthcare professionals.
Increased awareness regarding the need for infection control, prevention and management has helped create safer and more sanitised healthcare premises. However, the unprecedented outbreak of COVID-19 demonstrated that additional preventive measures and preventive planning would be required in the coming times.
