The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has unveiled a new course for nursing working in infection prevention and control (IPC) that aims to help prevent the rise of antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
Nurses working in IPC are crucial in the fight against the global rise of AMR and the new course seeks to equip nursing with the skills they need to combat this emerging threat.
According to a review on AMR in 2016, there will be 10 million deaths annually due to drug-resistant infections by 2050, without measures to stop its spread. This, the report said, could have a cumulative economic cost of $100 trillion.
‘The UK is leading the fight against antimicrobial resistance and the prevention of infection. Antibiotic resistance is a very real risk whereby simple infections are prolonged or become untreatable,’ said Rose Gallagher, RCN Professional Lead for Infection Prevention and Control.
On the new RCN programme, entrants will learn leadership skills concerning the prevention of infection, develop service improvement in their workplace and engage in the most effective ways to instigate change of practice.
Rose Gallagher, said: ‘Nurses have paved the way as clinical leaders in the prevention and management of infection and this course is responding to their current and future training needs.
‘It will focus on practical work-based learning to redefine the standard for skills and practice in this area. It is important to develop specialist nurses that can adapt to changes in clinical practice and service provision in line with changes to health systems.’
The RCN also stressed that this process was not exclusive to hospital settings and that IPC needed to be undertaken in all care settings.
‘It’s important we focus on the prevention of infection everywhere, not just in hospitals. The role of IPC nurses is constantly evolving and this course will help direct improvements to combat the rising threat of antimicrobial resistance in all settings,’ added Rose Gallagher.