Improve infection prevention and control in aged care settings

The current pandemic has highlighted a significant gap in how prepared aged care facilities are to protect their residents and staff from highly-infectious diseases like COVID-19.

A government-commissioned infection control expert group has concluded that all aged care staff should be trained in infection prevention and control (IPC) practices, not only when they start working in a facility, but also regularly throughout their tenure.

In the context of COVID-19, the urgency to provide training for all staff is paramount. It is a government directive, but more importantly, it’s a responsible action you can take to protect your community and their families. It’s also a vital step in protecting your business.

High-quality training will make a difference in how well you can respond to IPC needs. A short in-house session delivered to all relevant staff may seem like the obvious solution, but it may not be the best. Often condensed training misses things, doesn’t cover relevant examples or leave time for discussion, and doesn’t assess how confident participants are in applying their new knowledge.

We have been delivering education courses for more than a decade, and we understand the learning process inside and out. We take a learner-focused approach, to ensure we cater for learners’ individual needs.

Fast facts

• General infection control skill set & food handling option
• 4 week course
• Blended learning (self-directed learning online:15 hours; video workshop: 3 hours; observations: 2 hours)
• Group training only for 8-16 people
• Nationally recognised
• Funded places available to eligible individuals in NSW and Victoria until the end of 2020

Are you ready for the future of infection protection and control?

The pandemic mentality will be part of our reality for now and equipping your staff with the right infection prevention and control training is an important step in protecting your community.

At this stage, the IPC accreditation is strongly recommended by the government, but it may well be that it becomes mandatory in the very near future, particularly following any the Royal Commission’s findings on the impact of COVID-19.

As we’ve seen with the rapid spread of COVID-19 through the aged care sector, infection prevention and control is about more than wearing personal protective equipment (PPE), and washing hands regularly. High-quality training will draw attention to high risk processes, such as  the sequencing of donning and doffing PPE, and will provide relevant examples to cement the learning and encourage critical thinking.

How your staff will benefit from Selmar’s blended learning model

The principles of infection prevention and control may be deceivingly simple. But learning is a much more complex process than just being told information. Our expert trainers aim to ensure these principles become more than just a list of steps on the wall. That they instead become intrinsic to how aged care workers apply infection control.

The flexibility of online learning

Learners absorb information in different ways at different times of the day, and in different environments. Offering learners the option to study in their own time and space means they can choose the right time for them, and absorb and reflect on the learnings better.

Learning from experienced and passionate trainers

Every single one of our trainers brings a wealth of experience, and genuine passion for caring for the ageing. They all maintain employment in the sector, to ensure their understanding and experience of it is equivalent with that of the learners they teach. Learning from colleagues with experience and passion for their work strengthens the training.

Enhanced content to support learning

We have enhanced the standard teaching of PPC principles with lots of examples, case studies and hands-on exercises to better support information retention. Learners have a better chance of applying the knowledge when they can remember relevant examples. The course also has an interactive, online live session, where the learners can ask questions, and workshop through specific situations with the trainer. At the end of the course, we aim for every learner to have a clear understanding of how (and why) to apply the learnings to their day-to-day situations.

Assessment to verify learning acquisition

This is a crucial step to ensure the knowledge has been absorbed, understood and is applied. Our training includes a thorough assessment component to ensure learners are confident in applying the learnings. We include a written assessment, as well as observation-based assessment in collaboration with workplace supervisors.

Course summary*

Victoria

BSBSS00095 Cross-Sector Infection Control Skill Set

This skill set addresses the skills and knowledge required to undertake work activities in compliance with organisational procedures that prevent and control infection.

• Units of competency:BSBWHS332X Apply infection prevention and control procedures to own work activities

HLTSS00066 Infection Control Skill Set (Food Handling)

A set of skills to follow organisational infection prevention and control policies and procedures, including implementing standard and transmission-based precautions and responding to infection risks in organisations that include food handling in their operations.

• Units of competency: HLTINFCOV001 Comply with infection prevention and control policies and procedures

New South Wales

HLTSS00064 Infection Control Skill Set 

A set of skills to follow organisational infection prevention and control policies and procedures, including implementing standard and transmission-based precautions and responding to infection risks in the workplace.

• Units of competency: HLTINF001 Comply with infection prevention and control policies and procedures

HLTSS00066 Infection Control Skill Set (Food Handling)

A set of skills to follow organisational infection prevention and control policies and procedures, including implementing standard and transmission-based precautions and responding to infection risks in organisations that include food handling in their operations.

• Units of competency: HLTINFCOV001 Comply with infection prevention and control policies and procedures

Get in touch to discuss how our Infection prevention and control training can prepare your staff to face the challenge of infectious diseases.

 

* You may be eligible for fee free infection control training.

* In NSW this training is delivered with Smart and Skilled funding to eligible individuals.

* In Victoria this training is delivered with Victorian and Commonwealth Government Funding to eligible individuals.