How to catch QUALITY in a COVID-19 QUARANTINE context!

Nicole Vause¹

¹Rapid Response Nursing & Midwifery Service, Level 5 Citi-Centre

The South Australian COVID-19 Quarantine System encompasses a dedicated COVID-19 positive facility and five other supervised quarantine facilities (known as Medi-Hotels). This system has enabled over 20,272 international, 915 interstate and 503 local people to complete their quarantine requirements.

These Medi-Hotels are not purpose-built clinical/healthcare settings, but are run out of hotel sites across metropolitan Adelaide. As such, the physical structure, layout, ventilation systems and furnishings have presented a new set of challenges when attempting to mitigate infection prevention control risks associated with COVID-19. Furthermore, the involvement of multiple government agencies and contracted private businesses (such as security and hotel staff) with limited infection prevention and control (IPC) knowledge and lower levels of health literacy, has required the development of standardised infection control processes and knowledge transfer to on the ground staff.

‘A picture tells a thousand words’ has been the catalyst to drive quality improvements within and across the quarantine pathway. Using iPads and closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage, site-specific pictures were captured to provide those onsite examples to learn from and improve their infection prevention and control measures and implement site specific inherent/implied risk mitigation strategies. The visual examples have also enabled and supported IPC link nurses to overcome barriers and provide a one team approach, whilst embedding safe IPC practice and catching opportunities for quality improvements. Those offsite are also able to understand the challenges faced in the hotel environment that may make recommended infection prevention and control measures difficult to operationalise.

The adage ‘infection control is everybody’s business’ has never been so important and relevant than in the COVID-19 Quarantine context.

Biography: 

Since November 2020 Nicole Vause has been the Nursing Director for Infection Prevention & Control (IPC)/Quality Assurance as part of the South Australian Quarantine stream in the Rapid Response Nursing & Midwifery team. Nicole Vause is credentialled with the Australasian College for Infection Prevention & Control (ACIPC) at the expert level since May 2012. She completed a Master of Advanced Practice – Infection Control & Prevention in 2011. She is a passionate Infection Control Professional who has specialised in this field for the past 15 years. She was a member of the ACIPC Education Committee from 2014-2020, involved in the development of the ACIPC Foundations course. Mentoring current and inspiring the next generation of ICP across the state is an area she is passionate. She has been a Registered Nurse for the past 24 years working mainly in the acute care setting in metropolitan and regional/rural facilities, with some aged care experience.