This Infection Prevention & Control course delves into IPC basics, legislation, and guidelines, designed for WC Healthcare Professionals. It covers preventing infection spread, standard precautions and effective response strategies in healthcare.

About the course

  • Course Design: Self-directed

  • Duration: It will take approximately 7 hours to complete.

  • Eligibility for this course: The following professionals
    • Nursing and Midwifery Professionals
    • Pharmacy Professionals
    • Social Work Professionals
    • Medical, Dental and Dietetic Professionals
    • Prosthetic and Orthotic Professionals
    • Radiography and Allied Health Professionals
    • Emergency Medical Service Providers
    Must be registered with the relevant professional council (SANC, HPCSA, SACSSP etc)
    Working in Western Cape

  • Accreditation: HPCSA: 7 clinical CPD points - Level 1. WCDHW Nursing Accredited for 3 CPD points in Area of Practice.

  • Certification: Participants need 70% pass mark for each quiz.

  • Published: February 2024

Course curriculum

This course covers the following content:

  • Introduction to the Short course on IPC
  • Legislation: Acts, regulations, national and provincial IPC policies
    • What is Infection Prevention and Control (IPC)?
    • IPC legislation and guidelines
    • What all  HCW and managers should know regarding legislation relating to IPC
    • Main functions of an infection control programme
    • Essential IPC structures
    • Training in IPC
  • Introduction to Microbiology & Transmission of pathogens
    • Understand basic of Microbiology
    • Understand modes of transmission 
    • Understand how to the chain of transmission work and what to prevent transmission
    • What human defences do we have and how it helps to protect ourselves
  • Healthcare  and community associated infections
    • What is HAI definitions and types we find in HCF
    • The more relevant HAI we find in HCF
    • Cost of HAI and savings
    • Disease transmission & management in the community
      • Oro-faecal spread
      • Vector-borne spread
      • Blood-borne spread
      • Respiratory spread
      • IPC in the community
  • Standard Precautions
    • Understand Standard precautions
    • What is involved and why do we do standard precaution with all patients
    • Understand patient environment and factors for spreading infections
    • Linen, waste management and environmental cleaning as part of Standard base precautions
  • Transmission Based Precautions
    • Understand Standard precautions with Transmission based precautions
    • Understand how the different routes of transmission work
    • Understand Healthcare requirements for Isolation
    • How do we implement it in our facilities
  • Personal Protective Equipment and Hand hygiene
    • Understand why we need to wear PPE
    • Types of PPE and how to use them
    • PPE and equipment
    • Understand Hand hygiene
    • Understand the multimodal strategy from WHO
  • Risk Management and  Risk assessment
    • What is an infection Risk?
    • What is the purpose of Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) Risk Management?
    • Describe the stages of IPC Risk Management.
    • Factors affecting IPC Risk?
    • What is the purpose of IPC policies in Risk Management?
  • Surveillance and Audits in IPC
    • Understand what surveillance is.
    • To explain the purpose of surveillance
    • Understand the surveillance priorities.
    • Understand why feedback from surveillance important.
    • Be able to explain the difference between audit and surveillance.
  • Outbreak investigation & management
    • Key definitions 
    • Goals of outbreak investigation
    • Types of outbreaks
    • Steps in outbreak investigation
    • Role of IPC in outbreak investigation
  • Hospital design and IPC WASH
    • Summary of WHO CC nr 8 on design and what factors need to be address
    • What influence a healthcare facility design
    • Explain the importance of the design of healthcare facilities in the spread of infections
    • Advise on the layout of HCF in order to reduce risk of infections
    • Types of department within a facilities
    • Furnishes and finishing


Western Cape Government Department of Health and Wellness
People Development Centre

Acknowledgements:

  • Infection Control Africa Network (ICAN)