title: Infection prevention and control.
abstract: All newly registered graduate nurses are required to have the appropriate knowledge and understanding to perform the skills required for patient care, specifically the competencies identified in the Nursing and Midwifery Council's essential skills clusters. This article focuses on the third essential skills cluster - infection prevention and control. It provides an overview and discussion of the key skills and behaviours that must be demonstrated to meet the standards set by the Nursing and Midwifery Council. In doing so, it considers the key principles of infection prevention and control, including local and national policies, standard infection control precautions, risk assessment, standard isolation measures and asepsis.
authors.affiliation: Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, King's College, London, England.
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pegram
authors.forename: Jacqueline
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bloomfield
mesh_terms: D002983:Clinical Competence / Q000592:standards*; D003479:Curriculum / Q000639:trends*; D018562:Disease Transmission, Infectious / Q000517:prevention & control*; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D017053:Infection Control / Q000379:methods*; D006113:United Kingdom; D014495:Universities
keywords: Essential skills clusters; infection control; infection prevention; patient care