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In early 2003 Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) became an international globe-travelling virus; it began this frequent flyer journey from mainland China, and travelled to 30 countries across the world. By the end of its worldwide journey it had killed over 800 people and infected over 8000. As part of Australia's response to contain the virus, screening of all arriving international passengers was introduced throughout all of Australia's international airports. This article is a reflection on the experiences that five infection control practitioners (ICPs) had with implementing and conducting this service at Sydney's Mascot International Airport.

Background Currently the uptake of the influenza vaccine amongst Australian hospital staff remains low. While some staff members choose not to receive the vaccine, others may feel decisional conflict around whether to receive the vaccine or not. Having access to information that is personalized to the staff members’ concerns may alleviate this conflict. Our study aimed to explore the attitudes of hospital staff towards an online decision aid (DA), which focuses on influenza and the vaccine. We were also interested to examine whether they accepted the new tool and whether they had any suggestions for improvements. Methods Forty-one semi-structured interviews were undertaken with a range of hospital staff from two major public hospitals in Sydney and Melbourne, Australia in 2013. Emails and posters were used to inform staff members about the study. Thematic analysis was performed to explore the attitudes of hospital staff towards the DA. Results Our participants were well aware of the time/location of the staff vaccination clinics, however very few reported attending or receiving any educational material about the disease or the vaccine. Amongst those who did receive material, they felt that the messages were “dumbed down”. There was a mostly positive response to the DA from participants, however they felt that unless it was included as part of mandatory training or orientation, it would be difficult to get staff to use the tool. Conclusions Previous studies have established that education is an important component of an influenza vaccination program. We believe that the decision aid offers an alternative approach to delivering balanced information to staff members, which may reduce workload burdens on administrators and drive up rates.

Background: Healthcare-associated infections occur in 5-15% of hospitalised patients, with 30-50% preventable. Hand hygiene is a basic and essential but poorly conducted method to limit infection in hospitals. This practice development approach to implementing the '5 Moments for Hand Hygiene' national initiative aimed to increase compliance with the recommended hand hygiene practices, anticipating this outcome would be reflected in lower rates of healthcare-associated infections. Methods: Multiple methods were employed during October 2009-October 2010 within a multi-disciplinary initiative, although nurses were mainly recruited. Three medical wards, four surgical wards and the Intensive Care Unit were targeted. Project activities were informed by principles of practice development, solution-focussed coaching and models of behaviour change. Activities included active learning sessions, coaching, audit and feedback, competitions, creativity and fun. Outcomes were observations of hand hygiene compliance and routinely collected rates of Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia. Results: Overall hand hygiene audits showed statistically significant improvement in compliance, from 62 to 75% in quarterly audits. Compliance rates among nurses and medical staff increased significantly from 70 to 80% and from 43 to 63%, respectively, while changes for allied health practitioners, from 61 to 65% compliance, did not achieve significance. Recorded rates of Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia reduced from between 0.6 and 2.55 infections per 10000 occupied bed days pre-project to between 0 and 0.65 infections per 10000 occupied bed days during the project period. Conclusions: Multiple methods using a practice development framework can be successful in effecting changes in hand hygiene behaviour among all health care workers. Study methods took planning and commitment but were highly rewarding, particularly considering the magnitude of the issue for patient and clinician safety. © Australian Infection Control Association 2012.

It is crucial to assess patients’ understanding of and readiness to participate in infection control programs. While 80% of hospital patients reported that they were willing to help hospital staff with infection prevention, many felt that they would not feel comfortable asking a healthcare worker to sanitize his or her hands.Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2015;00(0): 1–3

The Third Conference of The Hospital Infection Society was held in the facilities of the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre close to Parliament Square London, from the 4-8 September, 1994.