Mrs Geraldine Freriks, Mrs Coralie Tyrrell, Mark Rigby, Christine Dufty, Sue Flockhart, Jenny Lukeis, Pamela Boon, Bern Squires, Robyn Freeman, Cathy Mowat, Amanda Ayres
1ACIPC , Garfield, Australia, 2ACIPC, Baw Baw, Australia, 3ACIPC GENCA, Geelong, Australia, 4ACIPC GRICG, Nhill, Australia, 5AIPC and MACN, GH, Australia, 6ACIPC, Warrnambool, Australia, 7., GV, Australia, 8., HUME, Australia, 9ACIPC & SRACA , Bendigo, Australia, 10ACIPC, Sale, Australia, 11ACIPC member and Australasian Society for Infectious, Australian College Nursing ACN.Diseases (ASID), Associate Member, , Bendigo, Australia
Biography:
Biography to come.
Abstract:
In 1999, newly elected Labour Health Minister John Thwaites announced at the VICNA State Conference the funding of 33 new Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) nurse positions, including 10 positions (2 EFT) across Victoria’s five rural regions.
Melissa Aberline, appointed as the new senior IPC nurse at the Department of Human Services (DHS), envisioned a collaborative regional network to reduce isolation among rural IPC practitioners. Each region implemented the 2 EFT differently. The aim was that all facilities would contribute to the overall regional work.
Two practitioners from each region formed part of the support group, evolving into a regional network focused on benchmarking, shared resources, brochures, surveillance, and audits. These audits aligned with national standards (e.g., AS4187), were aggregated anonymously, and provided regional feedback.
As an evolution of this group acNAPS, and IPC in Renovation were born, as well as many other resources of information such as the Little Yellow Infection Control Books and the AS4187 Audit. The Australian Council on Healthcare Standards (ACHS) began requesting these audits as evidence of compliance. This fostered recognition of the benchmarking process and led to IPC nurses from this group being invited to join government committees (e.g., AMS and ACIPC) for their clinical expertise. This initiative expanded its influence from regional to state wide and national levels.
We would like to take this opportunity to demonstrate how this group, from such humble beginnings—driven by passion, determination, and a shared vision—has grown and evolved into the thriving group that it is today.