Professional Development

Information about the 2017 Scholarships is now available on the Conference website here.

Have you initiated a successful infection control strategy or would like to develop or implement one? If so, Medtronic wants to recognise your excellence! The Medtronic 2017 Infection Control Scholarship has been designed to encourage Australian and New Zealand infection control practitioners to share their successes and innovations and to gain support for further work in these areas. The scholarship is to support critical infection control projects to ultimately enhance patient safety and assist best practice procedures and work place outcomes. Funding of $50,000 will be awarded across three categories, to promote excellence in infection control: Major Research Projects: Two grants for research projects requiring funding up to $15,000. (Total award = $30,000) Minor Research Projects: Two grants for research projects requiring funding up to $5,000. (Total award = $10,000) Educational Grants: $10,000 to further educational requests related to infection control i.e. oral/poster presentations at either national or international conferences. All applications must complete an application form. 

UPDATE: Please note the closing date for all applications was 31 May 2017.

The Elaine Graham Robertson Award is presented at the Annual Conference- having commenced in the ACT Branch of AICA. The award is the result of a gift from Elaine Graham Robertson – a pioneer infection control professional in the ACT and funds that were previously provided by the ACT Infection Control Association. Click here for more information.

Background

Elaine Graham Robertson became the first full time Infection Control Practitioner at Woden Valley Hospital (now The Canberra Hospital) in 1983 and remained in that position until her marriage to Paul Robertson and their move to Wollongong in 1999. She became an Infection Control Consultant in the Illawarra and southern Sydney until her retirement and a move to Brisbane in 2004. In 1985 Elaine chaired the inaugural meeting of the Infection Control Association ACT (ICA ACT) and also in 1985 she was a member of the group that formed the Australian Infection Control Association (AICA). In 1987 she was convener for the first AICA conference held in Canberra and co-ordinated the writing of the first Infection Control Manual for the ACT. In 2004 Elaine drafted three sections of the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing Infection Control Guidelines (2004). She has held Executive positions in ICA ACT and AICA. With others, she has been involved in research involving endoscopes. Elaine completed writing the History of AICA – The First Ten Years. Until her retirement she was a member of the Royal College of Nursing Australia and is a Fellow of ICA NSW as well as a Life Member of AICA/ACIPC. It is in Elaine’s honour and to perpetuate her ideals that this award was established in 2005 by ICA ACT.

Purpose

The Award has the following aims : Recognise Elaine’s many years of valuable contribution to infection control in the ACT and nationally. Reward excellence in infection control either by research or significant contribution to infection prevention and management practices within the recipient’s hospital or community by the way of an oral abstract presentation at the annual conference.

The recipients of the award since inception have been; Cathryn Murphy – 2006 – Inaugural recipient Marija Juraja – 2008 Sue van Der Graaf – 2010 Brett Mitchell – 2012 Deb Rhodes – 2013 Sue Borrell – 2015

CLAIRE BOARDMAN CICP MEDAL
The Claire Boardman CICP Medal for Leadership in Infection Prevention and Control is the highest honour of the Australasian College for Infection Prevention and Control in recognition of the College’s Inaugural President, Ms Claire Boardman, and her leadership in establishing the College.

It is bestowed upon a member of the College who demonstrates outstanding commitment to, the leadership of, the profession and practice of infection prevention and control, and to the Australasian College for Infection Prevention and Control.

The award is biennial and offered in perpetuity from 2014, and includes;

The Claire Boardman CICP Medal for Leadership in Infection Prevention and Control,
Entry onto the Claire Boardman CICP Medal for Leadership in Infection Prevention and Control Memorial Trophy; and
$1000 prize money

Award Rules:

1. The Claire Boardman CICP Medal for Leadership in Infection Prevention and Control shall be a biennial award offered in perpetuity from 2014.
2. A Selection Panel will be appointed by the ACIPC Board comprising the Chair as Censor-in-Chief, Ms Claire Boardman, and 2 external panel members one of whom is an experienced ICP.
3. The Award is bestowed upon an individual by the Board of the College on the recommendation of the Censor-in-Chief of the award, Ms Claire Boardman, via the Selection Panel
4. The award will only be made where the Censor makes a recommendation to the Board where a suitable nomination is received and deemed appropriate. The Censor-in-Chief and Board of the College may elect to not bestow the award in any given year. The decision of the Censor-in-Chief and the Board of the College is final.
5. The Medal shall be announced at the 2016 Annual Conference.

Entry Criteria

Nominations must address the following selection criteria:

1. Demonstrate excellence in leadership in infection prevention and control practice over a consistent period. Leaders may have implemented change within their group, their peers or organisation that has altered the way people think and perform. They may have overcome significant difficulty or adversity to achieve excellent outcomes within the profession or for their organisation. By setting an example through their leadership and drive the nominee may have worked toward improving patient care, health systems, governance or knowledge.
2. Demonstrate outstanding commitment to the leadership of the profession and discipline of infection prevention and control, and to the Australasian College for Infection Prevention and Control;
3. Demonstrated excellence in commitment to promoting infection prevention and control practice widely;
4. The nominee must at time of nomination be a current financial member of ACIPC;
5. The nominee (or delegate) must register and attend the ACIPC 2016 Annual Conference.

Application Process

• Individuals may self-nominate or be nominated by a third party. Please advise if the nominee is aware or not aware of their nomination at the time of submission
• Entry forms & templates can be downloaded from the ACIPC website (www.acipc.org.au)
• Nominations must be submitted using the online portal and address all entry criteria.
• Completed nominations must be received by the close of business Wednesday 31st August 2016. Nominations received after the closing date or those that do not address the entry criteria will be excluded from selection.
• All nominations are confidential and the decision of the Selection Panel and Board is final.

Presentation of the Award

The Claire Boardman CICP Medal for Leadership in Infection Prevention and Control will be announced and awarded at the 2016 ACIPC Annual Conference: The nominee or their delegate must register to attend the ACIPC Conference and be available to collect the prize (or arrange for a proxy to be there on their behalf). The name and photos of the winner will be entered into the Claire Boardman CICP Medal for Leadership in Infection Prevention and Control Memorial Trophy, and published in official publications of ACIPC.

For more information, please contact the ACIPC Secretariat at admin@acipc.org.au

Click here for PDF details.

Click here for Nomination Form.

Read Claire’s biography here.

Click here to watch the webinar

• Sharps Webinar 1 – Regulations Policies National Standards – Understanding your duty of care

Presented by Ms Susan Martland. Susan has worked in the healthcare sector for more than 25 years, beginning her career as a technical officer in a private pathology laboratory and later moving into the medical technology corporate world in various roles including government affairs, stakeholder relations, corporate communications, strategic marketing and sales. 

Susan is recognised as an independent expert in sharps safety and needlestick injury prevention and is a longstanding College member.  She is a passionate advocate for improving healthcare worker safety and was the driving force behind the formation of the Alliance for Sharps Safety and Needlestick Prevention in Healthcare (of which ACIPC is a foundation member). 

Susan was Chair of the Alliance until February 2015 and a member of the Safework Australia expert advisory group responsible for drafting a Code of Practice for managing the risk of occupationally acquired infectious diseases.

In 2013, Susan worked closely with senior Members of Parliament in Canberra, to have (for the first time in Australia) the issue of sharps safety debated as a Private Members motion in Federal Parliament.   Today she remains committed to raising awareness of the significant risk to healthcare workers from occupational exposure to blood and body fluids and in particular, the importance of sharps safety and needlestick injury prevention in healthcare.

• Sharps Webinar 2 – Incidence and Consequences

Presented by Professor Michael Whitby.

Professor Whitby is professor of medicine and head of Greenslopes Clinical School. He is a graduate of The University of Queensland. He trained in Internal Medicine, Infectious Diseases and Medical Microbiology, in Queensland, Glasgow, Nottingham and Nairobi. He was for many years, Director, Infection Management Services, Metropolitan South, based at Princess Alexandra Hospital. 

His research has focussed on patient and healthcare worker safety, in particular related to the epidemiology and prevention of infections associated with healthcare.

• Sharps Webinar 3 – Prevention of Blood and Body Fluid Exposures

Prevention of blood and body fluid exposures – what to do next. To register, please click here.

Presented by Ms Nicole Vause, a Clinical Practice Consultant in Infection Prevention and Control from Mt Gambier and Districts Health Service. 

• How to write a conference abstract… and beyond! 

Thinking of preparing an abstract either to have your article accepted for publication or for presentation as a paper or poster for a scientific conference but finding the first step a little overwhelming?

Having your work published advances the knowledge available to your peers who can benefit from it and is also an achievement for yourself. If you are interested in finding out how to write an abstract for conference and for publication, this webinar will assist you to: 

• Describe the importance of abstracts
• Outline the key attributes of high quality abstracts
• Discuss how peer review for conferences abstracts works
• List the ‘dos and don’ts’ for conference posters and oral presentations

Webinar Presenter – Dr Jon Otter

Dr Jon Otter is currently a Research Fellow at the Centre for Clinical Infection and Diagnostics Research (CIDR) (King’s College London / Guy’s and St. Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, London) and the Scientific Director of the Healthcare Division at Bioquell (a company specializing in hydrogen peroxide vapor decontamination). He is the author/co-author of more than 50 peer-reviewed publications, 3 book chapters, numerous abstracts, and invited oral presentations. He also writes a regular healthcare microbiology and epidemiology blog. The Webinar is chaired and facilitated by Dr Brett Mitchell – Editor in Chief Healthcare Infection.

Struti Project Webinar 

The STRUTI project is a research collaborative between researchers and infection control experts at Australian Catholic University, Avondale College for Higher Education, Canberra Hospital and Victorian Healthcare Associated Infection Surveillance Coordinating Centre.

This three phase project involves developing and piloting an online database and national approach for healthcare associated UTI surveillance in Australian hospitals and aged care facilities.

The webinar session provided an overview of the STRUTI project to date and report on the findings of the recently completed Phase II and was recorded in early February 2016..

Presenters

• Professor Anne Gardener – School of Nursing, Midwifery and Paramedicine at the Australian Catholic University on the Canberra Campus.
• Associate Professor Brett Mitchell – Associate Professor of Nursing, Director of the Lifestyle Research Centre Avondale and Interim Editor-in-Chief Infection Disease and Health.
• Ms Oyebola Fasugba  – research associate in the School of Nursing, Midwifery and Paramedicine at Australian Catholic University.

WA Special Interest Group Resources can be found in the Members Only Area. If you are an ACIPC member and would like to join or find out more about this SIG please email admin@acipc.org.au or call 03 6281 9239. 

Victorian Special Interest Group Resources can be found in the Members Only Area. If you are an ACIPC member and would like to join or find out more about this SIG please email admin@acipc.org.au or call 03 6281 9239. 

LMI Special Interest Group Resources can be found in the Members Only Area. If you are an ACIPC member and would like to join or find out more about this SIG please email admin@acipc.org.au or call 03 6281 9239. 

Special Interest Groups provide an opportunity to share information and network on topics of interest. Membership of these groups is open to all ACIPC members from novice to expert. 

Special Interest Groups that may be of interest are: 

Low and Middle Income Country 

Mental Health, Drug and Alcohol

Surveillance and Applied Epidemiology

Cleaning Disinfection and Sterilisation

Residential Aged Care (e.g. Long Term Aged Care Facilities)

Office Based Practice

State Based 

To express an interest in joining or starting a SIG please contact the ACIPC Office Manager by emailing admin@acipc.org.au

Aseptic Technique Resources

National Infection Control Guidance Non-tuberculous Mycobacterium associated with heater-cooler devices

Useful Links

The Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC)

The Australasian Society for Infectious Diseases (ASID)

The Australian Council on Healthcare Standards (ACHS)

Immunise Australia

Hand Hygiene Australia

The Healthcare Infection Society (HIS)

Asia Pacific Society of Infection Control (APSIC)

Infection Prevention Society – UK (IPS)

NZNO National Division of Infection Control Nurses

Infection Control Guidelines – Dept. of Health and Ageing

Infection Prevention and Control – Canada (IPAC)

Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care (ACSQHC)