Nurses get vital infection prevention training in Murrumbidgee hospitals

Charles Sturt University and the Three Rivers Department of Rural Health (Three Rivers) have partnered with the Murrumbidgee Local Health District (MLHD) to deliver crucial infection prevention training, focusing on microbiology, to nurses working in rural hospitals.

The ‘Microbiology in a Nutshell’ workshop, updated with relevant findings and practices from the COVID-19 pandemic, was delivered at Wagga Wagga Base Hospital. Up to 20 MLHD nurses who work in rural infection prevention roles in hospitals across Wagga Wagga, Holbrook, Harden, Tumut, Young, Finley, Culcairn and Leeton participated. The workshop was organised by Associate Professor in Immunology Thiru Vanniasinkam, lecturers from Charles Sturt’s Three Rivers Ms Kathryn Castelletto and Dr Elyce Green, and MLHD Infection Prevention Control District Clinical Nurse Consultant Ms Mary-Clare Smith (pictured).

The workshop expanded the nurses’ existing knowledge of microbiology, making it more applicable to hospital settings where stringent infection prevention is required. Professor Vanniasinkam said, “We have collaborated with other healthcare providers involved in infection control cases… to bring theory and practice together.”