Infection Prevention and Control Essentials
The core IPC knowledge every member of healthcare staff is expected to hold.
Program overview
This is the foundation course for infection prevention, written for every role in a healthcare facility rather than for specialists. It covers the chain of infection, standard and transmission-based precautions, personal protective equipment selection and sequence, safe handling of sharps and linen, environmental cleaning, and the specific responsibilities that attach to clinical, support and administrative staff. WHO data shows only 19% of countries meet minimum IPC training requirements — the base rate of competence in this subject is genuinely poor, which makes it the safest and most necessary first course in any healthcare catalogue.
Why this program
Written for every role, not only clinical staff
Aligned to WHO core component guidance
PPE taught as sequence and selection, not a poster
Practical, setting-neutral and internationally applicable
Who it is for
Program objectives
- Describe the chain of infection and the points at which it can be broken
- Apply standard precautions consistently across clinical and non-clinical tasks
- Select and sequence personal protective equipment correctly
- Explain transmission-based precautions and when each applies
- Handle sharps, linen and waste safely
- Identify your own role's specific IPC responsibilities
Learning outcomes
- Identify the point in the chain of infection targeted by a given precaution
- Select appropriate PPE for a described clinical task
- Sequence donning and doffing correctly for contact, droplet and airborne precautions
- Classify a clinical scenario by required transmission-based precaution
- Apply safe sharps handling to a described procedure
- Differentiate cleaning, disinfection and sterilisation by application
Curriculum
Module 1: The Chain of Infection
1 lessonsThe Chain of InfectionPreview
Reservoir, portal, transmission and the points of interruption.
Module 2: Standard Precautions
1 lessons- Standard Precautions
Module 3: PPE: Selection and Sequence
1 lessons- PPE: Selection and Sequence
Module 4: Transmission-Based Precautions
1 lessons- Transmission-Based Precautions
Module 5: Sharps, Linen, Waste and Spills
1 lessons- Sharps, Linen, Waste and Spills
Module 6: Environmental Hygiene
1 lessons- Environmental Hygiene
Duration and structure
6 lessons across 6 modules. Duration is expressed in study hours.
What you receive
This certificate confirms completion of Infection Prevention and Control Essentials. Duration is expressed in study hours.
Delivery format
- Self-paced — start any time.
- Study on any device.
- Lifetime access to the version you enrolled in.