Congratulations to our first four Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) Leads, who have passed some very specialised training with flying colours and are ready to tackle new responsibilities guiding our teams to ever-better practices.
Another step in the continual improvement around infection control in the global pandemic, the skills this team brings will also apply to influenza and any other infectious disease that threatens the safety of our precious residents and clients.
It is a new requirement of the Department of Health in 2021 for all residential aged care facilities to have a dedicated IPC Lead on site, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The aim is that each residential aged care facility will have at least one dedicated expert who will maintain responsibility for designing, implementing and monitoring infection prevention and control practices.
Proudly taking the extra responsibility for Goodwin are Trecia Hayter, Lorraine Magadzire, Kellie Warby and Ella Helle.
These team members were nominated for the opportunity by the DONs and executive team. Additionally, Jo Latimer and Tamra MacLeod are due to complete this May.
IPC Leads must be an EN or RN, and must undertake approved training to take up the role.
The new IPC Leads undertook 11 self-paced modules designed at the level of Graduate Certificate/Graduate Diploma (Level 8 degree of complexity and expertise). All Goodwin participants performed exceptionally well in assessments. Topics included surveillance and epidemiology, outbreak management, environmental hygiene, microbiology and the role of the laboratory, immunology and clinical governance, among others.
The course provides a valuable pathway for further learning in IPC and is an important resource for those wishing to pursue a career as an Infection Control Professional.