Infection Prevention and Control

What the resources cover

This unit is mostly mind maps, and they cluster around a few clear themes. Some follow the chain of infection: the infectious agent, the reservoir, the port of exit and the steps that break each link. Others cover Hand Hygiene Considerations, PPE Requirements for droplet, airborne and contact precautions, and donning protective equipment step by step. A large group looks at the control program in a hospital, hospital hygiene and waste disposal.

Beyond those, you will find maps on specific conditions and organisms, such as MRSA, Clostridium difficile, hepatitis B, cellulitis, leptospirosis and indwelling catheter related urinary tract infection. Slide sets and flashcards go deeper into cleaning, decontamination and sterilization.

Where to start

Begin with the basics. Open the mind map on standard precautions and infection control, then the one called Hand Hygiene Considerations. The Handwashing flowchart is a quick way to see the decisions behind the routine, such as what to do when skin is broken or visibly soiled.

Next, move to the flashcards. Hand Washing Techniques walks through the steps in order, and the decks on asepsis and infection control terminology help you pin down vocabulary. Once those feel familiar, try the slide set on low-temperature sterilization, which introduces ethylene oxide, hydrogen peroxide and ozone, and the requirements each method must meet.

Using quizzes and maps together

A simple routine works well. Read a mind map first, then close it and take a quiz on the same topic. The quiz called Infection and Inflammation asks about the smallest infectious agents and about how to read a low-grade fever and tiredness in a patient. The Infection prevention and control quiz covers bacteria and national infection prevalence.

Note which questions you missed, go back to the matching map, and try again. Flashcards are handy for the short facts that maps do not spell out. Teachers can pair a map with a quiz for a ready-made starter or a quick check at the end of a session.

Where this unit sits

This page belongs to the Fundamentals of Nursing Care strand in the Nursing subject. It focuses on one practical area of that strand, the habits and procedures that stop infection from spreading between patients and staff.

Ready to begin? Choose one map that matches what you are studying this week, and see how many of its branches you can explain from memory.