Evidence and practice

Infection prevention and control: understanding the fundamentals

Oonagh McCloy Lecturer (education) adult nursing, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast, Northern Ireland

Ashley McGuinness Teaching assistant in adult nursing, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast, Northern Ireland

Stephanie Craig PhD student, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast, Northern Ireland

Why you should read this article:

• To enhance your awareness of the importance of minimising the risks of infection transmission
• To refresh your knowledge of the standard precautions for infection prevention and control
• To reflect on the appropriate use of personal protective equipment in clinical practice

Infection prevention and control is crucial to prevent patients and healthcare staff from being harmed by avoidable infections, including healthcare-associated infections. This article outlines the main elements of standard precautions for infection prevention and control, as set out by the World Health Organization. Nurses and other healthcare professionals can use this information to refresh their knowledge of infection prevention and control, understand the appropriate practices that should be adopted to reduce the risk of infection transmission, and increase their awareness of the importance of sustainability and education.

Nursing Standard. doi: 10.7748/ns.2024.e12286

Peer review

This article has been subject to external double-blind peer review and checked for plagiarism using automated software

@oonaghmccloy

Correspondence

o.mccloy@qub.ac.uk

Conflict of interest

None declared

McCloy O, McGuinness A, Craig S (2024) Infection prevention and control: understanding the fundamentals. Nursing Standard. doi: 10.7748/ns.2024.e12286

Published online: 15 August 2024

Keywords :

clinical - hand hygiene - healthcare-associated infections - infection - infection control - infection prevention - patient safety - patients - professional

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04 December 2024 / Vol 39 issue 12

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DIGITAL EDITION