Ms Suzanne Alexander1
1ISLHD, Wollongong, Australia
Biography:
Suzanne Alexander has worked in Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) in Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District for 20 years. Suzanne is an IPC CNC based at Wollongong Hospital. Suzanne enjoys the challenges and variety of the ever evolving role with a keen interest in education and intranet resources for staff.
Abstract:
Providing busy clinicians with accessible, up-to-date Infection Prevention and Control (IPAC) resources remains an ongoing challenge, particularly after hours when specialist support is limited.
Recognising this gap the IPAC team developed and launched a comprehensive intranet platform to meet staff needs and promote sound, evidence-based care.
The intranet site was restructured to cover essential Infection Prevention topics such as Hand Hygiene, Aseptic Technique, Environmental Cleaning and High Consequence Infectious Disease. Importantly, it included patient factsheets and links to local, state and national guidelines. A recently introduced winter resources tab consolidates seasonal guidance, supporting timely decisions around patient care and accommodation during winter illness surges.
The IPAC intranet resources were promoted during orientation, education sessions, and meetings. Infection Prevention nurses actively navigate staff through relevant materials when responding to queries. This approach strengthens clinical decision making but also increases staff confidence in using the platform independently.
Since implementation, the impact has been significant: in the past year, the IPAC intranet page has seen a 100% increase in traffic, reaching 20 545 visits, with an average engagement time of 2.2 minutes per page. There were also 3 822 unique users, compared to 1 911 in the previous year. The intranet platform is “the cornerstone of how we operate,” reinforcing its value as a central clinical support tool.
A key lesson learned is the importance of maintaining timely, ongoing updates to the webpages to address deficits in resources available so clinical staff have access to high quality IPAC guidance to promote safe practice.