A minimum full-time equivalent for IPC lead nurses in Australian residential aged care facilities- A systematic review

ABSTRACT

Introduction: With the COVID-19 pandemic still ongoing, and the majority of deaths in the first waves occurring in residential aged care, infection prevention and control (IPC) in this setting has been put under the spotlight. It has been recognised that expertise in the sector was lacking (Safety 2021). To address this, the federal Department of Health mandated every residential aged care facility (RACF) employ an on-site "infection control lead nurse"1. However, no stipulation was made as to the minimum full-time equivalent (FTE) dedicated to this position. A literature review was undertaken to explore evidence and trends to determine what the minimum FTE should be dedicated to this particular role. Method(s) The Preferred Reporting Items of Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) framework guided a systematic integrative literature review conducted. Electronic databases Medline, CINHAL, EMBASE & Proquest were searched between 1/1/2000 and 30/4/2022. Grey literature was also searched. The mixed-methods appraisal tool (MMAT) was used to critique the quality of articles for inclusion. Result(s) The literature search yielded 1486 articles, with 17 articles meeting the inclusion criteria. Results showed bed numbers per FTE has been trending downwards in the acute care sector. Most recent studies indicate FTE for IPC is appropriate at 1.0 FTE for every 67 beds. Conclusion(s) Study on what the FTE is suitable for nurses working in IPC in any healthcare setting has been scant. Only four studies that met the inclusion criteria were found to have attempted to quantify the time taken to carry out infection control activities.Copyright © 2022