My Job with Ajie Jaguraga

Ajie Jaguraga

Ajie is an Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) Nurse Specialist, based at St James’s. She has worked at LTHT since 2015.

Please summarise the main aspects of your role?

I work closely with Microbiology, Virology and clinical staff, daily, to ensure the risk of infection to patients, visitors and staff is minimised through a range of prevention and control processes. • Education –ensure staff/departments are up to date with the best evidence for safe working practice. Providing training in hygiene processes and equipment use. • Audit – Monitor patient care and environment to ensure standards are maintained. Make sure hospital infection rates are used as an indicator of the quality of patient care. • Surveillance – Monitor numbers of infections and look for trends. Feed this information back to the clinical teams to help them make judgements on patient care. Identify reasons for infections and ways to minimise the risk of further cases.

• Advice –provide advice to clinical staff and visit clinical areas daily to address IPC issues directly. • Outbreak Management –provide support and advice to manage the outbreak and minimise disruption to essential services. • Policy/Guideline/Information – update or implement new policies or guidelines to ensure Trust guidance is in line with national guidance and IPC best practice.

What else have you done in your career so far?

After qualifying I worked at The Christie NHS Foundation Trust as an oncology nurse where I won an award for providing patient centred care. I joined LTHT as a research nurse in the microbiology department before being offered the position of IPC Nurse. I recently spent time in the emergency department at LGI and worked briefly with the Professional Practice and Safety Team.

What’s the best thing about your job?

Working with supportive, hardworking and kind colleagues. My team feels like family. My role gives me the scope to challenge and develop myself.

What is the one thing you would change at LTHT to help you do your job better?

IPC nurses rely heavily on IT to be able to do our jobs. Improvements in some IT systems would help us deliver more efficiently.

What could colleagues do to improve IPC at the Trust?

There are several things that people could do:

• Always follow the 5 moments for hand hygiene. • Appropriate use of PPE, e.g. if wearing gloves ensure these are removed and hands decontaminated before leaving the bedside.

• Ensure ALL documentation relating to invasive devices such as cannulas and lines is completed. Prompt removal of devices reduces the risk of infection to our patients.

What’s your best advice to a new starter at the Trust?

Take any learning opportunities you can find within the Trust. Ask questions. You never have to struggle as there is always someone to help you. Spend some time with IPC.