Approximately one out of every 20 hospitalised patients contracts a healthcare associated infection, of which around half are preventable. These infections add to the functional disability and emotional stress of the patient and in some cases, lead to disabling conditions that reduce the quality of life. In addition, they contribute to increased hospital stays and added expense to the healthcare system. Professional organisations for infection control, patient safety and quality and healthcare epidemiology have published numerous evidence-based guidelines relating to the practice of health care infection control. However, there are numerous organisational, environmental and behavioural factors which impact on the success of the strategies outlined in these guidelines.

This course is aimed at those working in health services or related disciplines that are interested in being brought up to date with the current knowledge and practices regarding the prevention and control of infections in our healthcare settings. This course will equip students with a comprehensive understanding of healthcare associated infections and the different prevention strategies. The course draws on recognised experts with a breath of experience, is aligned with the National Safety and Quality Health Service (NSQHS) Standards 3 and has an emphasis on practical learning experiences using real case scenarios.

This course is an elective course of the Master of Public Health, Master of International Public Health and Master of Health Management programs, comprising six units of credit towards the total required for completion of the study program. There are no pre-requisites for this course. However, it is important that students enrolling in the course have a basic level of knowledge of infection transmission routes and experience in health services or a patient care-related field. This course complements the content of PHCM9782Current Challenges in Infectious Diseases and PHCM9731 Outbreak Investigation.

Interested students, who are not enrolled in a Masters program offered by the School of Public Health and Community Medicine, will need to contact the course convenor, who will assess whether they have the appropriate background, before they can enrol in the course.