TRAINING COURSES : Lectures, Courses and Workshops Conducted

						INTRODUCTION
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately 36 million people are admitted to U.S. hospitals every year, and nearly two million patients annually acquire an infection while being treated; over 80,000 patients die from complications resulting from the infection. The CDC estimates that up to one-third of infections acquired in health care settings are preventable.  

From relatively minor urinary tract infections to life-threatening infections of the bloodstream and pneumonia, hospital-acquired infections vary in gravity. The CDC reports that hospital infections cost the American public nearly $5 billion in healthcare costs each year. The extra costs are the result of the additional days - or weeks - patients are required to stay in the hospital to treat the new infection.

While the precise causes are difficult to pinpoint, some hospital-acquired infections can be attributed to human error, such as failure to properly sterilize or disinfect objects coming into contact with a patient or properly isolate a susceptible patient from potential carriers.

This workshop is co-coordinated and presented by recognized experts in the relevant clinical fields of infection control, microbiology, epidemiology, infectious diseases, public health and occupational safety and health. It provides theoretical and practical methods to develop participants’ skills in infection prevention and control.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

o	Explain the benefit to patients and healthcare workers of adhering to scientifically accepted principles and practices of infection control.
o	Describe / explain the professional’s responsibility to adhere to and monitor scientifically accepted infection control practices and the consequences of failing to comply.
o	Describe / explain the professional’s responsibility to monitor infection control practices of those for whom she / he is responsible and intervene as necessary for compliance and safety.
o	Describe how pathogenic organisms may be spread in healthcare settings.
o	Identify factors that influence the outcome of an exposure and list strategies for preventing transmission of pathogenic organisms.
o	Describe how infection control concepts are applied in professional practice.
o	Define “engineering controls” and “work practice controls” and identify where these controls can be used to prevent exposure.
o	Identify a hierarchy of exposure prevention strategies.
o	Describe specific practices and settings that increase the opportunity for exposure to healthcare workers and patients.
o	Describe circumstances requiring use of barriers and personal protective equipment to prevent patient or healthcare worker contact with potentially infectious material.