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Table 1 Summary of IPC professionals’ profiles, training opportunities and current training needs

From: Education and training programmes for infection prevention and control professionals: mapping the current opportunities and local needs in European countries

 

IPC doctor profile and training

IPC nurses profile and training

Other IPC training opportunities

Training Needs

Cyprus

Microbiologist or ID specialist or other doctors

No IPC certification

No qualification mandated

Work experience in related fields No qualification mandated

Link Nurses: 60-h training programme

One 90-ECTS IPC Master program

National training program covering all fields of IPC

England

Clinical Microbiologists or other doctors No qualification mandated

Registered with the nursing and midwifery council

No qualification mandated

Pending: Advanced nursing practice in IPC, nursing assistant

Master in IPC

Short courses by Hospital Infection Society and Royal College of Nursing

Clearer training pathway into IPC specialization including training requirements and assessment

France

Medical doctors (microbiology, PH, ID) or pharmacists

No qualification mandated

2017: Cross sectional specialised training for medical internship

Nurses

Laboratory technicians

No qualification mandated

2019: Advanced nursing practice in IPC

38 post-graduate University degrees in IPC of 1–3 years

Course targeting specific populations and topics

Key domains (ie.implementation) should be covered

Germany

Certified medical specialty (48-month training at a facility which has an authorization for postgraduate medical IPC education and 12-month clinical training); final board examination

Doctors: 60-month postgraduate training; medical specialty

Doctors: IPC training open to all specialists (200 h) as advanced training

Certified nurse specialty

(12-month training program)

40-h course to become link doctor or link nurse

Increase training opportunities by creating professorships at every university to ensure

(1) IPC training of all medical students

(2) junior staff promotion

(3) structural integrity of long-term IPC programmes

Greece

Microbiologists, ID specialists or other clinicians with 5-year experience in ID or IPC

No qualification mandated

Nursing university degree and 5-year working experience

5-day training seminar by Greek Society for Infection Control

Standardised country-wide training program

Include IPC training in the curricula of ID and Microbiology

Italy

Doctors specialized in Hygiene and Preventive Medicine or Infectious diseases

No qualification mandated

No IPC certification

One official Master course in IPC (since 2014)

Otherwise no specific qualification required

Short courses at hospital and regional level or within scientific societies on specific topics

Accredited online and on-site courses to become link doctors and link nurses

Standardized methodology and approach to IPC training at national level

Netherlands

Clinical microbiologists

3 months training on IPC out of 60-month specialty training in clinical microbiology

Registered nurses or lab technicians following a training programme of 38 lectures and a minimum of working experience of 18 (Utrecht) to 24 months (Groningen) in an IPC department, as well as writing a thesis

Short courses available for link nurses

Duration of IPC training for doctors too short

Lack of expert nurses in IPC

Poland

Medical Doctors who have completed training course or certified clinical microbiologists, epidemiologists, ID, PH or healthcare management specialists

IPC training included in specialty training (4 months out of 48-month clinical microbiology and epidemiology training programme, or 3 days in infectious diseases training programme)

Registered nurses with 2 years of work experience following a 2-year training program (844 h) qualification program

Master program in IPC but not official qualification

Create an independent specialization for doctors and determining the legal frameworks for employment

Financial incentive to be addressed for nurses

Romania

ID and epidemiology involved in hospital IPC activities

IPC is not regulated as stand-alone nursing specialization Formal training and position, following 3-year post-highschool training, followed by a form of postgraduate training in IPC

CME courses organised each year by different medical universities, on topics related to IPC

CNE courses organised each year by the Order of General Medical Nurses, Midwives and Medical Nurses, on topics related to IPC

Standardisation and clarification of recognised training, curricula and tasks for IPC doctors and nurses

Improve the consistency of the specialty

Spain

Physicians in preventive medicine and public health (4-year post-graduate period combining 1 year Master degree in public health and clinical residency)

No nationally recognised specialty

Employment by public organization require scores on national examinations

Several postgraduate university courses in IPC and AMS or Master degrees (15–60 ECTS)

Variety of short courses endorsed by societies

Urgent holistic approach to education and training is warranted

Focus on quality improvement, implementation science and communication

Align national nurse competencies with European domains

Switzerland

Doctors with 3-year working experience in any field and 3-year working experience in ID and board examination and 1-year working in IPC again with board examination and at least 1 scientific paper published in IPC field

Certified nurse specialty (2-year IPC training programme after basic studies, including final exam and thesis)

6-day training to become a link nurse

Strengthening the importance of needs-appropriate IPC training for implementation of minimum requirements for IPC in hospitals

  1. AMS, antimicrobial stewardship; ECTS, European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System; ID, infectious diseases; IPC, infection prevention and control; PH, public health