The role of the infection control nurse

Abstract

1959 was a significant year for infection control in the UK. In January the Ministry of Health recommended the appointment of a Control of Infection Officer and a Control of Infection Committee in all acute hospitals. This recommendation was based on a report of the measures to be taken to deal with the pandemic of staphylococcal infections that occurred in the 1950s (Standing Medical Advisory Committee, 1959). During that decade many official bodies considered what steps could be taken to combat hospital infection. One of the earliest was the Standing Nursing Advisory Committee which reviewed the administrative aspects of cross-infection but saw the nurse in a purely supportive role (Standing Nursing Advisory Committee, 1951). Also in early 1959 Brendan Moore and his colleagues (Gardner et al., 1962) at Torbay Hospital introduced a new concept: the appointment of a whole-time ‘infection control sister’ to act primarily as liaison officer between all those concerned with infection control. Six functions of the infection control sister were set out: 1. Collection and preparation of adequate records. 2. Prompt recognition and disposal of infected patients. 3. Improvement of the liaison between matron and the ward sisters. 4. Checking the performance of ward techniques. 5. Supervision of infection record. 6. Routine checks of staphylococcal carrier-rates in operating theatre staffs, assessment of environmental contamination, efficiency of preventive measures, and research. This was an excellent start, at least Moore knew what he wanted the nurse to do. But what happened later? The first appointment was a success and 12 months later a second infection control sister was appointed in the same Health Authority. Similar appointments were made in other parts of the UK, but not all of these were made with clearly defined functions for the infection control nurse (ICN). A phase of confusion began during which some good nurses were appointed to posts with good support, some good nurses were appointed without adequate guidance, and some nurses were diverted into infection control for the wrong reasons, e.g., because they were unable to cope with the management of a ward or clinical department. Furthermore, many of these