Taking a novel approach to educating staff on infection prevention

In 2022, a pilot scheme of seconded harm-free care nurse specialists was introduced by the Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. These roles were introduced to focus on several aspects of harm, including urinary tract infection (UTI), catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI) and intravenous (IV) line safety and awareness. As the two seconded harm-free care nurse specialists, we worked closely with the infection prevention and control (IPC) team, as well as the specialist continence service and anaesthetics department, to provide direct and indirect care Trust-wide. The primary focus was the reduction of infection through surveillance, education and auditing.

A variety of small-scale focused quality improvement (QI) projects were implemented in a number of clinical areas throughout the Trust, alongside targeted education relating to harm-free care, embedding gold standards of best practice. Clinical areas that required intervention to reduce instances of infection and improve patient care outcomes were a prime focus throughout the QI projects and targeted education. These areas were identified through surveillance and audit work.