This book provides the reader with all of the background information necessary to enhance their understanding of the rationale behind the basic principles of infection control and how to apply them in every day situations; how specific bacteria interact with the host and cause infection; the background to each of the bacteria/infections described within the text, and, evidence based recommendations on the infection control management of these.

A practical, accessible set of principles and guidelines to improve the quality of patient care in hospitals, this resource helps nursing staff, doctors, and other specialists contain infections and protect themselves and other patients from their spread. The techniques are invaluable as an excellent reference on every hospital ward—helping workers meet their responsibilities for maintaining sanitary, hygienic health-care environments.

These guidelines provide recommendations that outline the critical aspects of infection prevention and control. The recommendations were developed using the best available evidence and consensus methods by the Infection Control Steering Committee. They have been prioritised as key areas to prevent and control infection in a healthcare facility. It is recognised that the level of risk may differ according to the different types of facility and therefore some recommendations should be justified by risk assessment. When implementing these recommendations all healthcare facilities need to consider the risk of transmission of infection and implement according to their specific setting and circumstances.

The WHO Guidelines on Hand Hygiene in Health Care provide health-care workers (HCWs), hospital administrators and health authorities with a thorough review of evidence on hand hygiene in health care and specific recommendations to improve practices and reduce transmission of pathogenic microorganisms to patients and HCWs. The present Guidelines are intended to be implemented in any situation in which health care is delivered either to a patient or to a specific group in a population. Therefore, this concept applies to all settings where health care is permanently or occasionally performed, such as home care by birth attendants. Definitions of health-care settings are proposed in Appendix 1. These Guidelines and the associated WHO Multimodal Hand Hygiene Improvement Strategy and an Implementation Toolkit (http://www.who.int/gpsc/en/) are designed to offer health-care facilities in Member States a conceptual framework and practical tools for the application of recommendations in practice at the bedside. While ensuring consistency with the Guidelines recommendations, individual adaptation according to local regulations, settings, needs, and resources is desirable. This extensive review includes in one document sufficient technical information to support training materials and help plan implementation strategies. The document comprises six parts.

Health care-associated infections (HAI) are one of the most common adverse events in care delivery and a major public health problem with an impact on morbidity, mortality and quality of life. At any one time, up to 7% of patients in developed and 10% in developing countries will acquire at least one HAI. These infections also present a significant economic burden at the societal level. However, a large percentage are preventable through effective infection prevention and control (IPC) measures. These new guidelines on the core components of IPC programmes at the national and facility level will enhance the capacity of Member States to develop and implement effective technical and behaviour modifying interventions. They form a key part of WHO strategies to prevent current and future threats from infectious diseases such as Ebola, strengthen health service resilience, help combat antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and improve the overall quality of health care delivery. They are also intended to support countries in the development of their own national protocols for IPC and AMR action plans and to support health care facilities as they develop or strengthen their own approaches to IPC. These are the first international evidence-based guidelines on the core components of IPC programmes. These new WHO guidelines are applicable for any country and suitable to local adaptations, and take account of the strength of available scientific evidence, the cost and resource implications, and patient values and preferences.

Reviews of first edition: “This book tells every healthcare professional all they need to know about infection control... A user-friendly, valuable source of knowledge on a subject that can be confusing and complicated.” Nursing Standard “A valuable contribution within any health or social environment." Journal of Community Nursing Infection prevention and control is an essential component of nursing care, and a crucially important subject area for both nursing students and qualified nurses. Fundamentals of Infection Prevention and Control gives readers a firm grasp of the principles of infection control, how they relate to clinical practice and the key issues surrounding the subject. It provides a comprehensive guide to the prevention, management and control of healthcare associated infections, and the basic elements of microbiology, immunology and epidemiology that underpin them. Thoroughly revised in line with current policy, this new edition contains brand-new chapters on a range of topics including the role of the Infection Prevention and Control Team, audit and surveillance, and the management of outbreaks. Also incorporating a range of case studies and examples as well as additional online content, it is essential reading for all nursing students as well as qualified nursing and healthcare professionals. Explores both principles and practice of a crucial subject area Accessible and user-friendly, with a range of features to help study including key definitions, links back to clinical practice, and chapter learning outcomes and summaries Accompanied by an online resource centre featuring MCQs, weblinks, case scenarios and downloadable fact sheets Features an increased clinical focus, with more application to practice This title is also available: as a Wiley E-Text, powered by VitalSource: an interactive digital version of the book featuring downloadable text and images, highlighting and note-taking facilities, book-marking, cross-referencing, in-text searching, and linking to references and glossary terms instantly on CourseSmart at www.coursesmart.co.uk/9781118306659. CourseSmart offers extra functionality, as well as an immediate way to review the text. For more details, visit www.coursesmart.com/instructors or www.coursesmart.com/students