Staff Commitment and Participation Produces Strong Infection Control Results

Lourdes Nursing Home is a 65 bed high care facility with a 16 Specific Dementia Bed Unit. It is located on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales and is part of the Catholic Care of the Aged group based at Port Macquarie. CCA Port Macquarie has been benchmarking with QPS for the last seven years.

The Lourdes Nursing Home staff members have completed the Infection Control Competency Test for six consecutive years and they have always performed strongly in this indicator. In the first year almost all staff undertook the test and they averaged 89%. It was noted in an earlier QPS Newsletter article that the reason for the strong performance was in part due to the fact that the educator for the group had previously been doing competency tests with the staff prior to joining QPS.

Over the first five years of doing the test, Lourdes has tested an average of 63 staff each year (90% of total staff) for an average test result of 90.6. This year 70 staff were tested and the facility recorded its best ever test result with an average staff score of 96.56.

Infection Control Competency Test

The results show that Lourdes Nursing Home has exceeded the industry average for six consecutive years.

Director of Nursing, Brenda Buckley attributes this success to a combined management and staff focus on the importance of infection control over a long period of time. Brenda adds "there is a strong and effective education program that is continually reinforced by posters and other information displayed throughout the facility". The results, and the enthusiasm shown by staff to participate, may also be the result of the long standing practice of staff being involved in full scale and mini infection control audits throughout the facility. At the present time there are 12 staff members out of a total 75 that are involved in checking both staff practice and knowledge.

Whilst the organisation provides time off for staff to do the test, most staff members are able to complete the test in a reasonably short period of time due to the high level of knowledge that staff have on the subject. Staff members are well organised and Lourdes Nursing Home is able to maintain its strong commitment to education and improvement with staffing levels that are very close to the industry average for high care.

"Whilst we are delighted to be in the best practice range for the Infection Control Competency Test, it is even more pleasing to note that our commitment to education, correct practices and the provision of good infection control equipment and facilities has resulted in a reasonably low infection rate for our facility, particularly when it is considered that our residents have high levels of care needs", says Brenda.

Infection Rates Indicator 4.7.5

The infection rate at Lourdes generally sits on or below the industry average for high care.