Protocol to establish standards for the elements of infection prevention and control programs and practice and competency standards for infection control professionals in Australian hospitals

Ramon Z Shaban; Deborough Macbeth; Julie Considine; Matthew O'Sullivan; Peter Collignon; Brett G Mitchell; Donna Waters; Kate Curtis; Phillip L Russo; Kathy Dempsey; Belinda Henderson; Anne Wells; Sam Butenko; N Deborah Friedman; Yana Albrey; Christine Gee; Lisa Nicolaou; Frances Sheehan; Mary Wyer; Merrick Powell; Catherine Viengkham

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0330221

Protocol to establish standards for the elements of infection prevention and control programs and practice and competency standards for infection control professionals in Australian hospitals

PLoS One. 2025 Aug 14;20(8):e0330221. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0330221. eCollection 2025.

Authors

Ramon Z Shaban^{1

2

3}, Deborough Macbeth⁴, Julie Considine^{5

6}, Matthew O'Sullivan^{2

3}, Peter Collignon^{7

8}, Brett G Mitchell^{9

10

11}, Donna Waters¹, Kate Curtis^{1

12}, Phillip L Russo^{9

11

13}, Kathy Dempsey¹⁴, Belinda Henderson¹⁵, Anne Wells¹⁶, Sam Butenko¹⁷, N Deborah Friedman¹⁸, Yana Albrey¹⁹, Christine Gee^{20

21}, Lisa Nicolaou²², Frances Sheehan²³, Mary Wyer^{1

24}, Merrick Powell^{1

2}, Catherine Viengkham^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Susan Wakil School of Nursing and Midwifery, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Camperdown, New South Wales, Australia.
² Sydney Infectious Diseases Institute, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Camperdown, New South Wales, Australia.
³ New South Wales Specialist Service for High Consequence Infectious Disease, Westmead Hospital, Westmead, New South Wales, Australia.
⁴ Gold Coast Hospital and Health Service, Gold Coast University Hospital, Southport, Queensland, Australia.
⁵ School of Nursing and Midwifery and Centre for Quality and Patient Safety Research in the Centre for Health Transformation, Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria, Australia.
⁶ Eastern Health, Box Hill, Victoria, Australia.
⁷ School of Medicine and Psychology, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia.
⁸ Canberra Hospital, Canberra, ACT, Australia.
⁹ School of Nursing and Health, Avondale University, Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia.
¹⁰ Central Coast Local Health District, Gosford, New South Wales, Australia.
¹¹ School of Nursing and Midwifery, Monash University, Frankston, Victoria, Australia.
¹² Emergency Services, Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District, Wollongong Hospital, Wollongong New South Wales, Australia.
¹³ Cabrini Health, Malvern, Victoria, Australia.
¹⁴ Clinical Excellence Commission, St Leonards, New South Wales, Australia.
¹⁵ Queensland Infection Prevention and Control Unit, Queensland Health, Herston, Queensland, Australia.
¹⁶ Department of Health Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.
¹⁷ South Australia Health, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
¹⁸ Victorian Healthcare Associated Infection Surveillance System (VICNISS) Coordinating Centre and Department of Infectious Diseases, University of Melbourne at the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
¹⁹ Northern Territory Department of Health (NT Health), Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia.
²⁰ Toowong Private Hospital, Toowong, Queensland, Australia.
²¹ Australian Private Hospitals Association (APHA), Barton, ACT, Australia.
²² Infection Prevention Policy Surveillance Unit (IPPSU), Communicable Disease Control Directorate, Department of Health (WA Health), East Perth, Washington, Australia.
²³ Canberra Health Services, ACT Government, Canberra, ACT, Australia.
²⁴ NSW Biocontainment Centre, Westmead, New South Wales, Australia.

Abstract

Healthcare-associated infections (HAI) are the most frequent hospital-acquired complication, resulting in significant mortality, disability, and system-level costs in Australian hospitals. Many HAIs can be prevented with appropriate infection prevention and control (IPC) measures, including IPC programs led by infection control professionals (ICPs). Despite recent improvements in hospital IPC practices in Australia, such as the introduction of National Safety and Quality Health Service (NSQHS) Standards for hospital accreditation, there are currently no evidence-based minimum standards for the content, composition, and governance of IPC programs, nor the identification of their core elements. Furthermore, there is a similar lack of evidence-based minimum standards guiding the practice requirements, skills, and competencies of hospital ICPs. This protocol outlines a sequential three-phase research design to establish the core requirements for the elements and governance of IPC programs, as well as minimum practice standards for ICPs in Australian hospitals. Phase 1 will involve two integrative reviews to synthesise the elements and governance systems of international IPC programs, and the competencies, education and practice standards for hospital ICPs globally. Phase 2 will use survey and interview methodologies to examine the current content and structure of IPC programs and governance systems in Australian hospitals, as well as the academic and professional content of IPC education and training courses for ICPs in Australia. In Phase 3, a modified electronic Delphi study will be conducted to generate expert consensus on the core requirements of Australian hospital IPC programs and systems of governance, and the professional practice, qualifications and competencies for Australian ICPs. The outcomes of Phase 3 will form the basis for the development of new standards that aim to equip the Australian acute care sector to deliver evidence-based IPC practices, education, resources, and governance.

Copyright: © 2025 Shaban et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

MeSH terms

Australia
Cross Infection* / prevention & control
Hospitals* / standards
Humans
Infection Control Practitioners* / standards
Infection Control* / methods
Infection Control* / standards