Mrs Nicola Isles
1Healthscope, St Kilda Road , Australia
Background: Immunisation of Healthcare Workers (HCW) is imperative to comply with the National Standards, this ensures HCW, patients and visitors are protected against vaccine preventable diseases in Healthcare settings.
Method: All newly recruited staff are required to provide immunisation information prior to employment; however, for many existing staff, their immunisation status was unknown or not documented consistently. Engaging the Hospital Executive for support was key to driving engagement and compliance with managers. Letters were sent to staff whose information was incomplete and working with a local pathology company we set up a streamlined testing and follow up process, ensuring a confidential and timely follow up for the staff and the hospitals. In 2022, digital software was purchased and implemented at all 41 hospitals to securely store all information electronically. Sites attended mandatory training on the module and generic reporting templates were created to ensure consistent reporting across all sites nationally.
Results: Over three months, all staff employed at two hospitals were 100% appropriately immunised as per the Australian Immunisation Handbook. This methodology was shared with the other 39 hospitals in the company.
Conclusion: Accurate staff health records ensure compliance with the required National Standards
This presentation will show our approach to how we managed to improve our compliance rate from two hospitals and then applied the program to the remaining 39 hospitals. The purchase of digital software and an education program has ensured that evidence is now stored within a secure electronic database.
Biography: Nicola has over 35 years experience as a Registered Nurse with a background in Intensive and Coronary Care and over 20 years specialising in Infection Prevention and Control. Her current role is Healthscopes National Infection Prevention and Radiation Safety Manager for 41 hospitals. She was a founding member of ACIPC in 2012 and is a current Board Director of ACIPC and Chairs the Practice Guidance Committee, is member of the Research and Grants Committee and a Board Member of the Australian Vascular Access Society (AVAS)