• Ramon Z Shaban, Cristina Sotomayor-Castillo, Deborough Macbeth, Philip L Russo, and Brett G Mitchell.
• Faculty of Medicine and Health, Susan Wakil School of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW, Australia; Marie Bashir Institute for Infectious Diseases and Biosecurity, University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW, Australia; Department of Infection Prevention and Control, Division of Infectious Diseases and Sexual Health, Westmead Hospital and the Directorate of Nursing, Midwifery and Clinical Governance, Western Sydney Local Health District, Westmead, NSW, Australia. Electronic address: ramon.shaban@sydney.edu.au.
• Infect Dis Health. 2020 Nov 1; 25 (4): 286-293.

BackgroundHealthcare-associated infections are serious and significant complications present across healthcare services, including residential aged care facilities. Although ensuring high quality personal and clinical care delivered to older people residing in these facilities is a high national priority, there is a paucity of evidence published about outbreaks, governance and education programs held for healthcare workers within Australian residential aged care facilities. The aim of this study is to examine the scope of practice of Infection Prevention and Control professionals within Australian residential aged care facilities and the types of infection prevention and control education and training delivered.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted inviting all Australian residential aged care facilities to participate in an online survey.ResultsA total of 134 residential aged care facilities completed the survey. The majority (88.1%) reported having a designated Infection Prevention and Control professional responsible for surveillance and educational activities. Hand hygiene (94%), personal protective equipment (PPE) (79.9%) and environmental cleaning (70.1%) were some of the available Infection Prevention and Control programs. The lack of access to Infection Prevention and Control education (69.5%) and lack of Infection Prevention and Control expert advice (67.2%) were also reported by some Residential aged care facilities.ConclusionAustralian residential aged care facilities recognise the importance of Infection Prevention and Control training programs to manage infection surveillance and outbreaks. Considerable activities are carried out to increase knowledge on breaking the chain of infection. Yet, more support and resources are needed to assist these efforts.Copyright © 2020 Australasian College for Infection Prevention and Control. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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