Infection Prevention and Control for NDIS

Infections spread from a source to a person through a chain of links, and many NDIS participants are more vulnerable because of health conditions, medications, devices, swallowing difficulties or shared living. This lesson explains how infections spread, the main routes of transmission, and why infection prevention and control is a requirement under the NDIS Practice Standards and the NDIS Code of Conduct. Key points: infections spread by contact, droplets and the air, breaking the chain stops the spread, and our practices protect participants, workers and families alike.

Standard precautions are the basic practices we use with every person, every time, whether or not they are known to have an infection. They include hand hygiene, using personal protective equipment based on the task, respiratory hygiene and cough etiquette, safe handling of sharps, routine cleaning, safe handling of waste and linen, and cleaning shared equipment between uses. This lesson explains each one. Key points: treat all blood and body fluids as potentially infectious, clean your hands at the right moments, choose PPE based on the task, and stay home when unwell.

Transmission based precautions are extra measures used, on top of standard precautions, when a person has or may have an infection that spreads easily. This lesson explains contact precautions, such as gloves and gowns for gastro or resistant organisms, droplet precautions, such as surgical masks and eye protection for influenza, and airborne precautions, such as a fitted P2 or N95 respirator for measles or tuberculosis. Key points: always use standard precautions as well, follow the participant's plan and our team leader's instructions, use dedicated equipment where possible, and fit check a respirator every time.

Personal protective equipment only protects you when it is put on and taken off in the right order. Most self contamination happens when PPE is removed. This lesson sets out the general sequence for putting on PPE, starting and finishing with hand hygiene, and for taking it off, removing the most contaminated items first and the mask last. Key points: clean your hands before and after, do not touch the front of your mask or eyewear, remove gloves first, remove the mask last and away from the person, dispose of PPE correctly, and never reuse single use items.

A clean environment reduces the number of germs that can spread. This lesson explains the difference between cleaning and disinfecting, why you must clean before you disinfect, how to focus on frequently touched surfaces and shared equipment, and how to handle body fluid spills, waste and soiled linen safely. Key points: clean with detergent first, then disinfect when needed, following the product's contact time, clean from clean areas to dirty areas, never shake soiled linen, carry linen away from your body, and follow our policy for waste and sharps disposal.

An outbreak is when more cases of an infection occur than expected, such as several people in a shared home developing gastro or a respiratory illness within a short time. This lesson explains how to recognise signs of infection and a possible outbreak, what to do first, and how we work with public health units. It also covers staying home when unwell and vaccination. Key points: report symptoms early, isolate and use transmission based precautions as directed, increase cleaning, follow public health advice, stay home when unwell, and for gastro stay home until 48 hours after symptoms stop.

This case study follows Lina, a support worker who arrives for an afternoon shift in a shared home to find two residents with vomiting and diarrhoea. The lesson walks through the first steps of managing a possible gastro outbreak: reporting straight away, supporting unwell residents to stay apart if they agree, using contact precautions, choosing soap and water for hand hygiene, cleaning and handling linen safely, and recording symptoms. Key points: act early, report straight away, protect the other residents and staff, and respect residents' rights while doing so.

This case study follows Arjun, an autistic man who lives alone and has confirmed influenza. His worker, Grace, still needs to provide his daily support. Arjun finds masks distressing because he cannot see faces. The lesson shows how to use droplet precautions while supporting communication and reducing distress, how to watch for signs that someone is getting worse, and when to seek urgent help. It finishes by bringing together the key messages of the whole course. Key points: keep precautions in place, adapt how you communicate, and act on warning signs.