Ms Alison Pickering1, Mr Timothy Tan1, Ms Brooke Jones1, Ms Lauren Lee1
1Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital, Herston, Australia
Biography:
I am the Clinical Nurse Consultant (CNC) of the Infection Monitoring and Prevention service at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital (RBWH) in Herston Brisbane. I have a passion for paediatrics, immunisation, quality improvements and streamlining surveillance programs to have a collaborative working relationship with health information management.
Abstract:
Infection Control (IC) is often focused on the clinical setting within the hospital; however, patient outcomes can directly be affected by the practices carried out in a hospital’s operational kitchen. Kitchen's are also source of risk to the operational staff due to indirect exposure of non-percutaneous fluids. This quality improvement (QI) was undertaken as a multifaceted program to improve overall practices of infection prevention within the kitchen including; hand hygiene (HH), use of standard precautions and appropriate glove use.
The QI was broken down into three main categories: infrastructure, education and implementation of auditing.
• An infrastructure review was undertaken to assess availability of HH facilities, and drain maintenance.
• Observational audits were undertaken to identify areas for education and areas for risks for occupational exposures to the staff. Tailored practical training then followed.
• A use of glove review was undertaken parallel with a review of HH practices. Recommendations for glove use and a localised HH audit tool were created titled “Hand to plate, do it safe”.
A total of three categories of infection control interventions were undertaken: infrastructure, education and implementation of auditing. Data is currently being collected to monitor compliance and educational outcomes.
Although the kitchen is not traditionally considered an area of IC specialty, this QI showed that IC has a key role to play in ensuring the best outcomes for staff and patients. The IC role is multifaceted and requires adaptability across both clinical and non-clinical settings to ensure optimal outcomes for all.