Surveillance - Infection Prevention and Control

Surveillance in health care facilities is an integral part of an infection prevention and control (IPAC) program. Surveillance is the systematic, ongoing collection, collation and analysis of data with timely dissemination of the data to those who require it in order to take informed action (PIDAC, 2014). Having an effective surveillance program will help identify and reduce the frequency of health care-associated infections (HAIs) within Nova Scotia Health (NSH). Having an effective surveillance plan in place and public reporting of HAIs is an Accreditation Canada Required Organizational Practice (ROP) and a requirement under the Patient Safety Act.

References

Provincial infectious Diseases Advisory Committee. (2014). Best practices for surveillance of health care-associated infections.