Ms. Maureen Canning1, Ms. Louise Aiton1, Ms. Anie Edward1, Ms. Kim Nash1, Ms. Monique Sammut1
1Western Health, Footscray, Australia
Biography:
Maureen has been the Operations Manager at Western Health for 3 years with 12 years manager experience at another organisation with 21 years working in Infection Prevention across 3 organisations. Maureen was the IP Lead for COVID-19 preparedness for Western Health and provided organisational guidance, education and training. Maureen has been a member of the ACIPC Practice Guidance Committee since 2020.
Abstract:
Background
The pandemic has led to many challenges including staffing, level of experience in Infection Prevention (IP) teams. Western Health has grown significantly with 1 new hospital being built, 2 more in planning phase. Due to location in the outer west, it is hard to attract qualified staff. Building specialist workforce capacity in advance of demand is integral for future proofing, along with succession planning to ensure service delivery as the organisation expands.
Method
Over the last 2 years Western Health has looked at future workforce needs. Three internal IP Intern roles were developed in 2023 with an additional three roles in 2024. All existing IP team members have been provided with leadership training roles for future development. The traditional Manager role was split into 2 roles with additional development of Team Leaders, Quality and Risk Coordinator roles with plans for an education role.
Results
Intern roles were recruited from specialist areas at Clinical Nurse Specialist level or above, existing Link Nurse and hand hygiene auditor roles. Three are completing their post graduate studies. All qualified IP staff have had various leadership training provided to support development.
Conclusion
Whilst challenging with training and supporting Intern roles in the short term, there will be long term benefits when our 3 new hospitals are opened with having qualified staff along with senior experience leadership as part of succession planning in a large organisation. Succession planning with the Team Leader roles will give extensive experience and benefit to the organisation with supportive mentoring.