RVN-led project delivers ‘significant’ infection control improvement

An RVN-led quality improvement project spanning 60 practices has helped a veterinary group make “significant” strides in infection control.

CVS ran the large-scale project, “Enhancing the Culture of Infection Control in Small Animal Practice Through Audit, Education and Reflective Tools”, following a national round table that identified infection prevention as a key priority for the profession.

The initiative, which was Highly Commended in the RCVS Knowledge Awards, is now said to have been extended beyond the participating practices, informing CVS’ development of a dedicated infection prevention digital workspace and educational resources for staff.

Compared approaches

Over a four-month period, the project compared different approaches to infection prevention improvement, with practices randomly allocated to control, low-intervention and high-intervention groups.

Teams used an adapted version of the Bella Moss Foundation Hygiene Self-Audit Tool to measure infection prevention performance each month alongside surveys examining perceptions of cleanliness, hygiene and shared responsibility for infection control.

The project was predominantly led by veterinary nurses, with each practice nominating a local lead responsible for coordinating audits and encouraging team engagement.

Resources

Practices were given educational resources and reflective learning tools to help them identify and address infection control risks within their own environments, while high-intervention practices also received training tools including germ-simulating products containing fluorescent dye to help visualise contamination risks and assess the effectiveness of cleaning processes.

Participating clinics showed “significant improvements” in infection control performance, with audit scores increasing by an average of more than six points over the course of the project.

Improvements were observed across all groups, with the greatest gains seen in low-intervention practices, said to suggest regular audits, team engagement and reflective discussions were more influential than the level of resource provided.

‘Cultural change’

CVS said it had also delivered “measurable cultural change”, with teams reporting greater awareness of contamination risks, stronger engagement with infection prevention processes and increased recognition of infection control as a shared responsibility of all practice staff.

Practices were encouraged to use audit findings and reflective discussions to identify solutions that worked within their own workflows, environments and team structures, said to have prompted the introduction of locally relevant improvements such as refined cleaning protocols, changes to equipment use, improved communication processes and greater use of infection control reviews.

RVN and research assistant Michelle Farrow, who led the project, said: “Infection prevention is fundamental to patient safety, team wellbeing and responsible antimicrobial use, but lasting improvement comes from culture rather than compliance alone.

“What makes this project particularly powerful is that it demonstrated how small, consistent actions, supported by audit, reflection and team engagement, can drive meaningful change at scale.

“I am incredibly proud of the veterinary nurses who led this work and of the practice teams who embraced shared responsibility for infection control as part of everyday clinical care.”