Webinar – Clean kitchens, clean hands, safe meals

Infection Control (IC) is often focused on the clinical setting within the hospital; however, patient outcomes can directly be affected by the practices carried out in other non-clinical areas within a hospital. This lunch and learn will focus on the operational kitchen of the RBWH and QI that were undertaken to improve both patient and staff safety.

The actions and work processes of the food services staff can have a direct link to patient outcomes. In addition, the kitchen is also a source of risk to the operational staff due to indirect exposure of non-percutaneous fluids and percutaneous injuries. This QI was undertaken as a multifaceted program to improve overall practices of infection prevention within the kitchen including; hand hygiene (HH), appropriate glove use, cleaning, use of standard precautions and environmental design and infrastructure to improve outcomes for all.

Although the kitchen is not traditionally considered an area of IC specialty, this QI showed that IC has a key role to play in ensuring the best outcomes for staff and patients. The IC role is multifaceted and requires adaptability across both clinical and non-clinical settings to ensure optimal outcomes for all.

About the presenter:

Alison Pickering is the Clinical Nurse Consultant (CNC) for the Infection Monitoring and Prevention Service (IMPS) at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital, Metro North Hospital and Health Service. She has a strong interest in paediatrics, immunisation, environmental infection control and quality improvement, with a focus on streamlining surveillance programs and collaborating with Health Information Management.

Alison began her career in paediatrics at Mater Health Services and Children’s Health Queensland before moving to Metro North. She transitioned into infection prevention and control through roles in Occupational Health and Public Health (Communicable Disease Control), and now focuses on environmental factors that influence infection risk, including quality improvement initiatives and compliance with standards such as AS 5369. She is also a member of the Queensland Infection Clinical Network.

Alison holds a Bachelor of Nursing and a Graduate Certificate in Paediatric and Child Youth Health from Queensland University of Technology, a Master of Public Health (Communicable Disease Control) from James Cook University, and is an accredited Immunisation Program Nurse through the University of Southern Queensland.

To register for this webinar, please click the link below: