Dr Ruth Barratt1, Joanne Baigent1, Ms Monina Hernandez1,2, Ann Whitfield1, Tanya Jackways1, Francie Morgan1, Barbara Gibson1
1Infection Prevention and Control Nurses College, NZNO, Wellington, New Zealand, 2Deakin University, Burwood, Australia
Biography:
Monina Hernandez is an IPC consultant with 30+ years’ nursing experience in academic, governance, and clinical roles across aged care, primary, secondary and tertiary hospital settings in the Philippines, New Zealand, and Australia. She is Regional IPC Manager at TLC Healthcare and is pursuing PhD in Nursing at Deakin University.
Abstract:
Problem
Infection prevention and control (IPC) plays a vital role across all areas of healthcare. The recent pandemic highlighted the critical need for New Zealand nurses to possess fundamental IPC skills to ensure healthcare safety at all times.
To bridge this gap, the New Zealand Infection Prevention and Control Nurses College (IPCNC) launched the Fundamentals of IPC Programme in 2020, a concise best practice online course designed to enhance foundational IPC knowledge and skills. Nurses were mentored, as opposed to being supervised and coached. Mentorship is relationship and development focused, supervision is accountability focused, and coaching is performance focused.
Results
Mentorship played a crucial role in enhancing the IPC learning experience and professional development of nurses who came from acute care, aged care, and primary care settings. Experienced IPC mentors provided essential guidance, support, and expertise to 271 mentees as they completed ten self-directed workbooks over four months. The online success rate was 73%.
Mentoring in small cohorts facilitated the application of IPC concepts to sector-specific challenges, enhanced collaboration, and provided personalised support that addressed gaps in self-study. Mentorship enabled sustained motivation, accountability, and peer learning.
Conclusion
IPCNC mentors served as role models, sharing their expertise and guiding nurses throughout the course. Graduates have been equipped to competently address ongoing and emerging infection control challenges and have demonstrated significant personal and professional growth.
Lessons learnt
Mentoring in IPC is a strategic tool for professional development, workforce resilience, and in nurturing future IPC experts.