Role of emergency nurses in controlling infection

Suboptimal infection-control practice raises the risk of infection in emergency departments, while time constraints and the presence of large numbers of staff with varying shift patterns can make the delivery of infection training and education difficult. In response to disappointing infection control audit results, the author carried out a small pilot study to ascertain nursing and medical staff awareness of local policies on infection prevention and control, and their uptake of the relevant training programmes. The results indicate that doctors' knowledge of, and compliance with, infection-control procedures is poorer than those of nurses. This article discusses the results and makes recommendations to improve practice.