Mrs. Anne Hutley1, Ms Sarah Thomas1
1Health New Zealand, Capital Coast & Hutt Valley, Lower Hutt, Aotearoa / New Zealand
Biography:
Anne & Sarah are IPC CNS’s at Hutt Hospital, Lower Hutt, New Zealand. They were both founding members of the New Zealand ACC Aseptic Technique Working Group. Anne is also a member of the National Infection Prevention and Control Committee and the ACIPC Representation and Advocacy Committee.
Abstract:
Prior to 2020, Aotearoa New Zealand had no standardised way of teaching aseptic technique outside of the theatre environment to healthcare professionals. Practicing aseptic technique is a cornerstone of preventing healthcare associated infections, and our auditing exposed a knowledge and application deficit that needed to be improved.
As part of a group of speciality clinicians we reviewed international packages and models to see which would suit the New Zealand context. The aim was to deliver an education and auditing package that would improve healthcare workers knowledge and skills. It also needed to be applicable to any procedure, and setting (including the community).
The development, trial and, refinement resulted in a principle based framework that included succinct principles, resources, and tools. New Zealand Aseptic Technique (NZAT) was successfully implemented into the Capital, Coast and Hutt Valley district (a large public hospital district) over a 12 month period.
Our district has seen a continued improvement in aseptic technique practice with staff utilising the resources, and improved audit results. Staff have given overwhelming positive feedback on the principles based framework. The key benefits identified were its ease of understanding and practical approach.
Overall, we have found that developing a model that is universal in its application has resulted in an improved aseptic technique practice across the organisation of 23% (with some specific procedure types improving by 50%). We believe that having a principle based approach can have a practical impact in reducing the burden of healthcare associated infections.