Sofie French, a senior infection prevention and control nurse who graduated from our infection prevention and control MSc in 2018, talks about responding to the COVID-19 pandemic and the benefits of online study.
Tell us about your experience of studying infection prevention and control
I completed the infection prevention and control MSc online whilst in full-time employment as an infection prevention and control specialist nurse.
The course linked directly with all aspects of my clinical practice. It gave me a deeper theoretical knowledge and understanding of infection prevention and control and allowed me to apply this to my daily practice e.g. when managing incidents or outbreaks in healthcare facilities.
Through completing this course, I have not only gained promoted posts in my field, but I have had the opportunity to present at national and international conferences.
When I started studying with the university, I was working as an infection prevention and control audit and surveillance nurse. I am currently a senior infection prevention and control nurse, working at a national level within the Antimicrobial Resistance and Healthcare Associated Infection Scotland team.
What does your job involve?
My role is incredibly diverse. One day I can be filming educational videos, the next I’ll be providing specialist advice and support to Health Boards on outbreak management. I manage a planned programme of work, which includes the ongoing development and maintenance of the National Infection Prevention and Control Manual, a resource to support board-level infection prevention and control across NHS Scotland.
Within infection prevention and control, my passion is delivering education. I enjoy developing educational materials and this was the focus for my dissertation. Throughout my career I have gained extensive experience in face to face teaching and have also had the opportunity to develop educational content for NHS Education for Scotland.
Some of our work is also reactive in nature, such as supporting the national COVID-19 pandemic response. The pandemic has completely changed the way we work, as the situation is continually evolving, meaning we need to react swiftly. I was also deployed to the NHS Louisa Jordan Nightingale Hospital to assist with the operational phase of opening. This was a once in a lifetime experience that will stay with me forever.
How have you been involved in the COVID-19 response?
I’ve been at the forefront of the COVID-19 response, providing support and guidance, reviewing outbreak and incident data and working closely with stakeholders such as NHS Boards and the Scottish Government. Antimicrobial Resistance and Healthcare Associated Infection Scotland is leading the national agenda for infection prevention and control in Scotland.
I continue to work and collaborate with NHS Education for Scotland as part of my role and we have recently developed COVID-19 supporting educational materials.
How did you find studying online?
Distance learning can often be perceived as challenging, but if the recent lockdown has taught us anything, it’s that it can be done! Throughout my time at the university I felt that all of the tutors and lecturers were fantastic. They were available to provide guidance and support throughout the modules and kept the momentum of the module going through ongoing engagement on the university’s virtual learning environment.
The benefit of distance learning is that you have the opportunity to engage with individuals from all over the world, virtually. There were people from many different countries on my course and we all participated in discussions. It was interesting to understand the infection prevention and control challenges that colleagues faced in other countries, such as extensive antimicrobial resistance.
It also gave us the ability to share and discuss how we would manage issues within in our own areas. This is a level of discussion that other students may not experience in a face to face learning environment and I feel that it was beneficial and allowed me to reflect on my own clinical practice.
You can find out more about the University of the Highlands and Islands Infection Prevention and Control MSc atwww.uhi.ac.uk/en/courses/msc-infection-prevention-and-control
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