Microbiology education for rural nurses: continuing professional development strategies
Elyce Green A , Clair Seaman A and Thiru Vanniasinkam A *A School of Dentistry and Medical Sciences, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, NSW 2678, Australia.
Elyce Green is a registered nurse and currently works as the Rural Health Education Lead at Three Rivers Department of Rural Health (DRH), Charles Sturt University. Elyce’s role is focused on delivering programs that lead to increased recruitment and retention of rural healthcare professionals. |
Clair Ellen Seaman is a sociologist and currently works as a Research Fellow, Program Evaluator at Three Rivers Department of Rural Health, Charles Sturt University. Her research interests include evaluation, rural health and workforce issues. |
Thiru Vanniasinkam is an Associate Professor in Immunology at Charles Sturt University who teaches and undertakes research in microbiology and immunology. Her research interest include vaccine development, epidemiology of Campylobacter jejuni and Rhodococcus equi, and microbiology education. |
Microbiology Australia 44(3) 162-165 https://doi.org/10.1071/MA23045
Submitted: 27 April 2023 Accepted: 16 May 2023 Published: 23 June 2023
© 2023 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of the ASM. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND)
Abstract
Nurses play an important role as frontline staff in infection control. Continuing professional development (CPD) in microbiology is key to helping nurses stay up to date with the latest developments in this area. A pilot study was conducted to determine the value of a microbiology laboratory-based workshop to support regional nurses. A team of microbiology academics and clinical microbiologists presented the laboratory-based workshop at Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga campus in New South Wales. Pre- and post-surveys were conducted. After the workshop, learners were significantly more confident explaining the process of culturing and identifying organisms from clinical samples (z = 2.84, P = 0.005), the importance of antimicrobial resistance in relation to common healthcare-associated infections (HAI) (z = 2.56, P = 0.011), cutting edge technology used in the rapid diagnosis of infectious diseases (z = 2.69, P = 0.007), and which antibiotics are appropriate for different bacterial infections (z = 2.72, P = 0.007). CPD opportunities such as workshops are vital for nurses in rural locations, particularly as health professional shortages in rural locations mean that nurses at all levels are required to take a lead role in infection control practices.
Keywords: continuing professional development, infection control, interprofessional, nursing.
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