The spread of Coronavirus across the globe is a testament to the fact that even in a sterilised or sanitary environment, infection can spread quickly and get out of hand. As seen in the current pandemic, infections can transverse state and country boundaries, affecting people all over the world. This has made the role of Infection Control Nurses very important for healthcare organisations across the globe.
The job of an Infection control nurse is to ensure precautions are taken to prevent the virus or bacteria from spreading, as well as study their cause and effect. Even a small mistake can lead to the virus spreading from a patient to a healthy individual, hence, these nurses play a huge role in containing outbreaks and epidemic. To understand the scope of an infection control nurse, here are some major doubts regarding their role, answered.
The role of an Infection Control Nurse
The main duty of an infection control nurse is to prevent the spread of an infectious agent. Through educating other medical professionals and civilians on the techniques to prevent the spread of virus, as well as actively implementing best practice for halting the spread, they work to protect themselves as well as others from contamination. They also might study the structure of pathogens and viruses to determine the best ways to contain or prevent the infection. During the outbreak of any kind of virus, these nurses isolate the infected patients and take steps to contain the infection and assist in creating vaccines.
The work environemt of an Infection Control Nurse
An infection control nurse shares almost the same responsibility as any other nurses, the only difference is that the former opt for a specialised infection control nurse course. They work in similar medical facilities, such as hospitals and clinics, alongisde nurses. Various infection control nurses also join government agencies to raise awareness about different infections and how to prevent them.
How to become one?
To become an infection control nurse, you need to obtain the relevant experience in the nursing field, after which you can take up a course that will help you secure a specialised position.
For people looking to take it up as their career, infection control nurse course is offered by the Consortium of Accredited Healthcare Organisations (CAHO), which is a recognised non-profit organisation that aims to improve healthcare quality. With programmes such as fire safety training for hospital staff, basic nursing communication, cybersecurity in hospital, etc., they work to improve the quality and safety of healthcare services across the country.
Healthcare Organisations in India 