Putting it into practice: Infection control professionals’ perspectives on early career nursing graduates’ microbiology and infection control knowledge and practice

Abstract

As the underpinning element of infection control practice, the role of microbiology education and training in nursing education will benefit from review. Further discussions about the nature and timing of theoretical microbiology content and assessment of undergraduate students' microbiology knowledge to ensure retention and appropriate application of that knowledge in practice are urgently needed.

Reported hours of infection education received positively associated with student nurses' ability to comply with infection prevention practices: Results from a nationwide survey

“…Consistent with published reports, we found that student nurses were knowledgeable and cognizant of infection prevention concepts as evidenced by their ability to identify and provide instances of non-compliance in the hospital. Studies consistently show that student nurses observe discordance in infection prevention expectations and behaviors between the classroom and patient-care setting (Cox et al, 2014; Geller et al, 2010; Gould and Drey, 2013). Geller et al (2010) analyzed 3492 comments related to hazards and near-misses reported by student nurses during clinical rotations and found that nearly one-quarter of comments were infection related.…”

“…This is likely due to an increased understanding of infection prevention concepts and awareness of how infection prevention practices may be correctly performed. Cox et al (2014) explored the knowledge and practices of nurse graduates through in-depth interviews and found that participants believed infection prevention education and peer-role modeling played a substantial role in early nurse graduates’ infection prevention behaviors. In discussing peer-role modeling, the authors described that when poor infection prevention practices are repeatedly witnessed, individuals become desensitized to infection prevention behaviors and subsequently begin to model observed practices.…”

Exploring How to Conduct Infection Prevention and Control Education in Undergraduate Nursing Programs in Korea: Focus Group Interview Analysis

“…Previous research on IPC education has largely divided into studies focused on IPC education strategies utilizing standardized patient, simulation environments, or actual clinical situations for IPC education [7][8][9] and studies focused on the IPC-education elements such as microbiology, hand washing, healthcare-associated infection with standard precautions, preventive measures for medical personnel, and issues on patient immunity such as HIV/ AIDS patients [10][11][12][13][14][15][16].…”

The Necessity of Prerequisite Undergraduate Microbiology Courses for Pre-Allied Health Professionals

“…Studies suggest that attitudes toward prevention of hospital infection vary among “frontline” technicians, such as nurses, nurse practitioners, and phlebotomists, who perform these types of routine invasive procedures and are engaged with the greatest amount of patient contact (1, 6). Other studies also suggest that there is wide variation between hospitals with respect to infection prevention (4). Even with microbiology as a foundational prerequisite in allied health programs, the culture of the hospital may have an impact on the practice of proper aseptic technique.…”