Prevention and Control of Infections in Hospitals: Practice and Theory

This volume offers extensive information on preventive and infection surveillance procedures, routines and policies adapted to the optimal infection control level needed to tackle today’s microbes in hospital practice. It especially focuses on preventive measures for serious hospital infections. Each chapter includes a practical section that addresses the main aspects of procedures and treatment, and a theoretical section that contains updated documentation that can be used for further study, or to help select infection control measures. Infection control concerns all healthcare professional working directly or indirectly with patients; in diagnosis, treatment, isolation measures, operations, equipment, drugs, cleaning, textiles, transport, porter service, food and water, building and maintenance, etc. Hygiene and environmental control is central to infection prevention for patients, visitors and staff alike. Good hygienic practices, individual infection control, well implemented and frequent environmental cleaning, and a high professional standard of hygiene in the treatment and care of patients, are essential to patient safety and a safe working environment. Addressing this essential topic, this book is intended for doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers, students in health-related subjects, hospital managers and health bureaucrats, as well as patients and their families.

About the Author

Bjørg Marit Andersen is Doctor in Medicine, Specialist in Medical Microbiology, Professor in Infection Control and Hygiene, and former head of Department of Hospital Infections, Oslo University Hospital - Ullevål,  with regional infection control responsibilities for Health Region East, and later the South-Eastern part of Norway. She is a lecturer in infection control, hygiene and medical microbiology for healthcare personnel at several universities and high schools in Norway. She has also been a lecturer in infectious diseases at Ullevål University Hospital, head of microbiological department at the University Hospital of North Norway in Tromsø and special adviser in communicable disease control for Army Medical.

Bjørg Marit Andersen was a guest researcher at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; CDC, in Atlanta, USA, and has also studied infection control at hospitals in the US by the Minnesota Department of Health. For several years she has been amember of SHEA Guidelines Committee working with supervisors regarding infection control.

She has more than 350 publications within the field of medical microbiology/infectious diseases/hospital infection control, including more than 100 original works. In addition, she wrote several review articles, abstracts, books, and Handbooks in: Medical microbiology (last one in 2014), Infection control in LTCF (last one in 2013), and Infection Control in Hospitals (Norwegian edition in 2016).

Bjørg Marit Andersen received the Norwegian Medical Society’ quality price in 2001.