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Putting knowledge into practice:infection control, medication safety and

invasive procedures.

The following three cluster topics are best taught

when the students are on placement and

allocated to a clinical environmentward or clinic.

Much of this Curriculum Guide will be new

knowledge for the students. However, unless they

apply this new knowledge in the workplace,beside the bed or in the operating rooms or

clinics, there will be little change to the quality of

the health care being provided by students and

doctors or received by the patients. Students

need to practise the techniques and behaviours

described in this Curriculum Guide. The following

three topics of infection control, medication safety

and surgery and invasive procedures have been

developed from a patient safety perspective. They

are designed to maximize the students ability topractise patient safety concepts and principles

while on placements in the hospitals and clinics.

Before teaching one or more of these topics it

would be helpful to have some exposure to the

concepts in the earlier topics, particularly the

topics on teamwork, system thinking and errors.

Topic 4 Being an effective team player is

essential prior learning for each of these cluster

topics. Each of the following topics depends on

every member of the health-care team (including

the medical student) knowing the relevance and

importance of accurate and complete

communications with others including the patients

and their families. Students should become

familiar with the many techniques such as

checking, checklists, briefings, de-briefings,

feedback and timely handover during their time on

the wards. When students see the relevance of

such techniques they are more likely to be early

adopters of such techniques.

The following three topics heavily rely upon theimplementation of appropriate and authorised

guidelines. Understanding the role of guidelines

and why they are important to health care will

show students that good patient outcomes are

dependent on all the members of the health care

team following the same treatment plans.

Guidelines are designed to assist patient

management using the best evidence available.

Evidenced based practice uses the best evidence

available to lessen variation and reduce risks topatients. There is plenty of evidence to show that

the appropriate use of clinical guidelines can

minimize adverse events caused by overuse,

under use, and misuse of medical care [1,2].

References

1. British Medical journal Clinical Evidence (Web

page) http://www.clinicalevidence.com

accessed 26 November 2008.

2. Institute of Medicine. Crossing the Quality

Chasm: a New Health System for the 21st

Century. Washington DC: National Academy

Press, 2001.

Introduction to cluster topics 911