Online learning is being used to help combat MRSA (methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus) and other healthcare-associated infections.
The Training Foundation is launching ‘MRSA – you can make a difference’, a one-hour e-learning course, which has been designed in close collaboration with infection control professionals for those who come into regular contact with patients.
Accredited by the Infection Control Nurses Association (ICNA), the course can be accessed any time and wherever staff can connect to the internet. Those who cannot access the internet can be supplied with the course pre-loaded on a tablet PC.
There is a personal dimension to the project for the Training Foundation’s director of learning solutions, Les Hobbs. A close relative of his died of an MRSA infection, and the character of Edith, who features in the course case studies, is based on her.
“A National Audit Office report shows that, despite procedures and training in infection control being widely available, MRSA presents an increasing threat,” said Hobbs.
“Surveys of healthcare staff indicate that often simple measures are not being consistently implemented. Our short, online course brings these issues into the open and makes it clear to staff that they can make a real difference.”
The course is designed as a learning resource to assist IC nurses to train others and to help drive any behavioural adjustments that might be necessary.
It aims to complement existing routine infection control training rather than replace it, and can be used as a standalone awareness course or as part of a wider learning programme with follow-up review sessions.
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As Training Magazine went to press, the Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Strategic Health Authority became the first SHA to enter a license agreement to use it.
