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NSW Health is committed to ensuring the health and safety of all patients and visitors in healthcare settings, and providing a safe and healthy working environment for all staff. Relevant NSW Health policies may be accessed via CIAP by selecting Guidelines from the left navigation menu, then Ministry of Health (MOH) Policy Directives and Guidelines, which will open the Policy directives and guidelines page. In the lower section of this page, various search options are available. Select the option Functional Group to display an overview of all policies and guidelines, organised by four functional groups. Under the group Clinical/Patient Services select Infectious Diseases to see the full range of related policies. You will also note that the functional groups Population Health, and Personnel/Workforce contain headings for Communicable Diseases, Infection Control, and Occupational Health and Safety documents.

Therapeutic Guidelines - eTG - contains comprehensive Antibiotic information and guidelines, including principles of antimicrobial use and stewardship, an overview of antimicrobial resistance, patient resources to promote correct use of antimicrobials, and detailed information on antimicrobials, antifungals, antiparasitics and more. In addition, eTG provides guidelines on Severe sepsis and septic shock (adults and children), and the antimicrobial management of many clinical conditions such as Pneumonia in immuno-compromised patients, Mycobacterial infections, Meningitis, Acute gastroenteritis, and HIV. Browse the Antibiotic guidelines topic from the eTG home page to view the full contents or use the search field to search for specific subjects. A link to specific information for the use of drugs in ‘Pregnancy and breastfeeding’ can be found under Quick Links on the eTG home page.

UpToDate provides evidence-based, fully referenced information on a wide and diverse range of clinical topics relevant to Infection Control. The topic outline for Sepsis for example, includes: Sepsis syndromes; Evaluation and management of suspected sepsis and septic shock in adults; Systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) and sepsis in children: Definitions, epidemiology, clinical manifestations, and diagnosis; Pathophysiology of sepsis; Sepsis in term and pre-term infants, and Sepsis in the asplenic patient. Use the UpToDate search field to search and/or browse your topics of interest and utilise the expandable menus beside each topic to explore in more depth. Information on the Contributors and Authors for UpToDate topics is displayed at the top of each topic page and grouped by specialty in the UpToDate Contents page.

CIAP provides access to a wide range of Books and Journals on a variety of subjects. The book Review of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, 14e (2016), is updated every two years. Chapter 11 comprises 50 interactive Clinical Cases designed to test diagnostic capability and subject knowledge. The book A Manual of Laboratory and Diagnostic Tests provides useful information on interpreting diagnostic and pathology test results, and is easy to navigate.

Journals that may be of interest include the Journal of Hospital Infection and Antimicrobial Resistance and Infection Control. Subscribe to electronic tables of contents (eTOC) by setting up ‘new volume alerts’.

For systematic reviews and summarised evidence, you can browse the content in the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) and the Cochrane Library, which are available via the Evidence-Based Practice in CIAP's left navigation menu. Video tutorials to support your use of these resources are available in CIAP's Knowledge Centre.

In JBI, you will find topics such as: Effectiveness of Different Types of Care for the Peritoneal Dialysis Catheter Exit Site (2014), and Central Line-Associated Bloodstream Infection: PICC vs CVC (2015), and many more. Use the Limits options to narrow the type of publication you want. To discover the range of publication types that JBI makes available, click on the small blue circle above and to the left of the search field. All topics in JBI are available in full text.

In the Cochrane Library, use the search field (top right on the home page) to locate documents relevant to your information needs. One systematic review that has recently been updated to include new studies is: Low bacterial diet versus control diet to prevent infection in cancer patients treated with chemotherapy causing episodes of neutropenia (2016 update).

To support your use of CIAP, visit the CIAP Knowledge Centre where you can undertake self-directed learning or sign up for any of our online or face-to-face education events.

CIAP Update

Listen to the podcast on Multi-drug resistant tuberculosis on UpToDate.

CIAP provides access to a range of podcasts provided by some of CIAP's most popular evidence-based resources. Podcasts are becoming an increasingly popular method of gaining insight into a particular topic or subject area. Although podcasts have their limitations, such as not providing a visual component, they do offer an opportunity to study and keep up to date with current practices and research topics whilst on the move. They also offer some interesting discussion points that can be raised in journal clubs or in-services. The Cochrane Library offers hundreds of podcasts, which may be found by selecting More Resources from the Cochrane home page and then Cochrane Podcasts. UpToDate's full range of podcasts can be found by selecting Policies at the bottom of the home page, then Editorial. The British Medical Journal offers a diverse podcast program, which you may subscribe to, while the NEJM provides podcasts, audio summaries of each issue and a collection of audio interviews.

If you are interested to learn more and cannot find the information that you are looking for, contact the CIAP helpdesk during business hours and one of our friendly team members will be happy to assist.

Jopanna Briggs Institute

Article in Focus

MRSA: Patient Screening

Joanna Briggs Institute JBI1642 June 2016

This Evidence Summary examined the best available evidence regarding active screening of potential methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) carriage and/or patients.

Infections due to MRSA are associated with a greater risk of treatment failure, increased patient mortality and higher medical costs.

The Best Practice Recommendations are:

  • All patients who are at high risk for carriage of MRSA should be screened at the time of admission. (Grade B)
  • Regular (e.g. weekly or monthly) screening of all patients in high-risk units should be performed routinely. (Grade B)
  • Screening all patients (regardless of their risk-group status) should be considered on admission to high-risk units. (Grade B)
  • Rapid screening may be considered over standard culture method for in-patients to reduce risk of in-hospital MRSA acquisition. (Grade B)

Read the full article.

Gems on CIAP

Accessing Images on CIAP

Here are five CIAP resources where images may be sourced:

  • UpToDate
    • Enter your topic in the search field.
    • Option 1: Change search field option to Graphics, and run the search
      search option
    • Option 2: When searching within a topic, select the Graphics option from the left hand menu
    • Select image/s and save or export to PowerPoint.
  • Access Medicine
    • Search for your topic; note that Images will be a menu option in the left navigation menu. Browse results, select image and save or download to PowerPoint.
  • BMJ Best Practice
    • Search for your topic; open the Condition monograph, and under Resources in the blue panel select Images. Choose image/s you would like to use, and then save.
  • PEMSoft
    • Select or search for your topic; if images are available, a menu option for Images & Video will appear on left navigation menu. Click on image and save.
  • Ovid Databases
    • Search for your topic and select an article that has the Full Text in Ovid option and open the article. On the right hand menu (under Outline), select ‘IMAGE GALLERY’, choose image/s and export to PowerPoint.

For information on Copyright, select ‘About’ on CIAP's top navigation bar, then select ‘Terms & Conditions’ to view.

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