Infection control nurse: A scoping review

Abstract

Infection control is a crucial aspect of healthcare delivery aimed at curtailing the spread of infections within healthcare settings. The role of infection control nurses (ICNs) is reported to have a significant contribution in limiting healthcare-associated infections. Scholarly investigations have explored various domains of ICNs. However, a lack of comprehensive coverage of existing studies in the area is observed. Therefore, the current review attempts to determine the scope of the literature published on ICNs. A search was conducted on PubMed, Scopus, CINAHL, Embase, and Web of Science from January 2000 to December 2023 to retrieve research outputs on ICNs. The identified data underwent two screening stages to extract relevant articles based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The key outcomes were the factors that influenced the performance of ICNs and ICN programs. Out of 1869 articles, 25 were selected for the final review. The study summary identifies themes such as the roles and factors influencing ICNs and evaluating ICN programs. The review highlights a lack of high-quality evidence on ICN programs. Therefore, future studies should focus on implementing and evaluating these programs. Mapping and designing the structure, job responsibilities, and the role of ICNs demand attention from the research community.

Introduction

Infection control is a crucial aspect of healthcare delivery, with the goal of promoting health by limiting the spread of infection among individuals in healthcare settings such as hospitals, homecares, and community health centers.[1,2] One of the major concerns of infection control and promoting quality healthcare delivery is the prevalence of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) at both institutional and community levels.[2] The majority of HAIs are reported from emergency and critical care units due to the increased use of invasive devices during care.[3] HAIs can be caused by a lack of infrastructure, staff turnover, and low compliance with personal protective equipment among healthcare staff.[1,4,5] Evidence suggests that 17% of patients in developing nations and one out of 17 patients in developed nations are affected by HAIs.[6,7] This showcases the global threat of HAIs to patients and staff. To combat this issue, healthcare organizations have implemented various strategies, including hospital infection control committees, infection control programs, and training initiatives. In addition, ICNs have been appointed to oversee these efforts.[8,9,10]

Existing evidence on ICNs investigated their knowledge, attitudes, roles, and responsibilities and the implementation and evaluation of infection control nurse programs (ICNPs) at institutional and community levels.[11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18] The research conducted by Dekker¹⁶ advocates that training and education should be considered core components of any ICNP in Dutch hospitals. In addition, the research community highlights the importance of long-term goals, stakeholder involvement, and evaluation of measures implemented through ICNP for their success. However, the evidence generated on the effectiveness of ICNP is inconclusive due to the limited quantity and poor quality of studies.[15] The review by Dekker[15] aimed to analyze the roles and responsibilities of infection control link nurses and evaluate the impact of infection control link nurse programs. The review focuses solely on acute care health settings and links nurses[15] who are intermediaries between the ward and the ICN,[17] highlighting a dearth of reviews discussing the scholarly evidence on ICNs. The current literature addresses this gap by examining the trend of research contributions on ICNs in the 20^th century. From the background presented, the review aims to answer the following research question.

• What scholarly evidence is available on ICNs in the 20^th century?

The review makes a few contributions. First, the review provides an overview of the roles and responsibilities of ICNs. Second, the factors affecting the performance of ICNs in containing HAIs are discussed. Third, the impact of certain interventions to reduce HAI, which includes ICNs or ICNPs, is discussed. This would help healthcare administrators and health policy planners to understand and take necessary actions at the administrative level and policy levels to improve the competencies of ICNs and thereby deliver quality healthcare services.

Materials and Methods

Research design

Scoping studies have recently become a common evidence-synthesis method among the research community.[19,20] It includes an iterative process of collecting literature and analyzing, irrespective of study design, a particular topic to address the research question from a broader perspective.[20] The review adopts a methodological framework developed by Mak,[20] which includes “identifying the research question,” “identifying relevant studies,” “study selection,” “charting data,” and “collecting, summarizing, and reporting the results.”

Stage 1: Identifying the research question

The current review was conducted to investigate the existing scholarly evidence on ICNs. Hence, the review was guided by the research question, “What scholarly evidence is available on ICNs in the 20^th century??”

Stage 2: Literature search and identifying the relevant studies.

The initial search for the scoping review was conducted in databases such as Web of Science, Embase, CINAHL, PubMed, and Scopus. The keywords used to search the articles were identified from previous studies in the knowledge domain.[21] The key concepts of the search strategy were framed using PCC elements referring to other scoping reviews.[22] This includes population (P), concept (C), and context (C). The research question framed in this review defined ICNs as a population, existing research engagement on ICNs as the concept, and research engagements after the year 2000 as the context. The search was limited to research articles published between January 2000 and December 2023 without any geographical limitation by using the keywords “infection control nurse” and “infection control link nurse.” An infection control link nurse is also considered an ICN who acts as a nurse liaison between the wards and infection control teams.[21] Table 1 depicts the search strategy used to extract research articles from databases.

Table 1.

The search strategy for the review

Databases		Limits				Strategy
		Language		Date
Web of Science, Embase, CINAHL, PubMed and Scopus		Resources in English		January 2000–December 2023		“Infection control nurse” OR “Infection control nurses” OR “Infection control nursing” OR “Infection control link nurse” OR “Infection control link nurses”

Stage 3: Study selection

The inclusion criteria for the identified studies and selection process are discussed in this section.

Inclusion criteria:

The present study aimed to investigate the existing research trends on ICNs. Hence, the review included all quantitative and qualitative studies that focused on ICNs and infection control link nurses. However, studies published on infection control teams or staff that failed to include ICNs or research on any practices related to infection control that did not discuss ICNs were excluded to focus the present review’s output on ICNs.

The articles extracted were subjected to a two-phase screening process by two authors, which is discussed in the following section. Any disagreement on the articles was resolved through discussion, consensus, and sometimes by consulting the third author. According to Munn et al.,[23] articles’ critical appraisal and risk assessment are not mandatory in a scoping review. Hence, the authors did not assess the quality of the extracted articles. The selection of articles based on PRISMA framework is depicted in Figure 1.

Figure 1.

PRISMA flow diagram

Stage 4: Charting the data and reporting the results

The articles identified from research databases were extracted using a Microsoft Excel (2019) template. The information of authors, title of the article, the purpose of the research, methodological approach, variables included in the study, data collection and analysis, and key findings were extracted from the selected articles using the developed template.

Results

Characteristics of literature

The initial search across four databases yielded 1869 papers, of which 402 were identified as duplicates. The remaining 1467 articles underwent the first phase of title and abstract screening, resulting in 162 articles. The second phase of content screening further reduced the number of articles to 25. Therefore, the final review comprised 25 peer-reviewed documents, as shown in Figure 1. These consisted of three brief reviews, a scoping review on ICNPs, four interventional studies, 11 cross-sectional studies, two qualitative studies, three brief reports, and one mixed-method study. A summary of the included studies is presented in Table 2.

Table 2.

Summary of the studies included

Author Details and Location		Objective		Study Design		Study Setting and Methodology		Key Findings
Trundle[43] UK		Report on GRASP nursing workload management system1 implementation		-		The GRASP management system was introduced in 1991 and is currently utilized by 40 wards and OP departments. Care activities were identified, and the time value was calculated.		Overutilization (130%) of ICN was observed.
Dawson[21]		Report on roles of ICLN		-		-		The report briefly describes the roles, values, educational qualifications, and challenges ICLN faces.
Quattrin[25] Italy		To assess the roles, activities, and IC knowledge of ICN.		Cross-sectional survey		529 Italian hospitals were subjected to a questionnaire-based survey to collect ICN staffing information.		54% of hospitals have ICN. 23% have full-time ICN. ICN is focused on surveillance activities.
Prabhakar[12] India		Report on roles of ICN		-		-		The report briefly explains the various roles of ICN.
Robert[11] US		To evaluate the ICLN network in homecare settings		Cross-sectional survey		An IC self-audit tool was issued to all nursing homes to investigate the IC practices.		Describes the effectiveness of the ICLN network in terms of staff education, identification, and monitoring of infection control practices.
Jantarasri[26] Thailand		To evaluate the roles of ICN and to map the challenges faced.		Qualitative study		The study includes an interview and questionnaire survey across 146 ICNs from two hospitals.		ICN has minimal role in research due to inadequate knowledge, heavy workload, and lack of administrative support
Picheansatian[54] Thailand		To evaluate the effectiveness of training courses in IC.		Quasi-experimental study		Forty-six ICNs with more than one year of experience were subjected to a training module on Infection control practice.		The module proved effective in improving the knowledge of the subjects and should be periodically conducted.
Jaślan[27] Poland		To investigate the perception of ICN towards job satisfaction, multidisciplinary engagement, and organizational conditions		Cross-sectional surveys		358 ICNs were surveyed in 2014 and 2021 through an anonymous questionnaire		IPC is poorly appreciated by other healthcare staff and management. Respondents revealed difficulties in a multidisciplinary engagement.
Cooper[46]		To assess the impact of the ICNL program in improving empowerment.		Focus group discussion		A focus group discussion was conducted across 10 ICLN		A combination of educational programs and administrative support can improve the ability of ICLN to overcome the challenges in IC practice.
Stone[45] US		To examine the staff, structure, and responsibilities of ICN.		Cross-sectional survey		A national survey was conducted using a survey questionnaire to extract information on staff education, qualifications, and roles.		Provides a comprehensive description of IC staffing and organizational structure
Freeman[41] Scotland		To assess the benefits of the career development framework for ICN		-		A descriptive overview of the career development framework for ICN		The framework consists of four pillars, i.e., facilitation of learning, leadership, evidence, research, and development.
Xu[8] China		Evaluate the outcome of ICN in the incidence of P. aeruginosa and MDR strains.		Quasi-experimental		An updated IC protocol focusing on hand hygiene and disposal of supplies and devices was issued after a retrospective examination to confirm the incidence of P. aeruginosa.		The introduction of ICN was effective in reducing P. aeruginosa and other HAIs.
Kim[14] Korea		To classify the advanced nursing practice of ICN using a resource-based relative value scale.		Cross-sectional Survey method.		The survey was conducted among 32 ICNs. 19 practices were classified as advanced practices by experts.		The advanced IC practices were classified under management, surveillance and epidemic investigation, education, and training.
Walaszek[42] Poland		Self-assessment of ICN on decision-making power and professional task		Cross-sectional survey		A survey questionnaire was distributed among 108 ICNs to understand the percentage share of tasks in their daily work and the scope of decision-making ability.		Major share contribution of daily tasks is to HAI monitoring and registering. Other professional groups within the organization influence decision-making.
Williams[28] Iran		To evaluate the IC program		Qualitative		A telephonic interview was conducted among ICLN, Clinical nurses, and community managers.		The following areas were identified for guiding a successful implementation of the IC program; the Selection process, support networks, essential roots, and turning points for success.
Asmara[13] Indonesia		To assess the performance of ICN		Cross-sectional survey		An online questionnaire was issued to 32 ICNs,		Discuss the factors affecting the nurses’ performance
Dekker[15] (2019)		To study the key concepts of ICLN in acute care hospitals		Review		-		Highlights the need for evidence on the impact of the ICLN program.
Garvey[10] UK		To reduce the healthcare-acquired MRSA by implementing IPCN		Interventional study		An ICN-led ward rounds were initiated on patients acquired with healthcare-associated MRSA.		Reduction in infection is observed.
Choi[36] Korea		Description of the updated IC policies		-		-		Demands the need for certified ICN trained for a minimum of 16 hours. The hospital should have full-time IC staff according to the bed strength.
Donati[47] Italy		To evaluate the outcome of ICLN implementation		RCT		The intervention group of ICLN was selected for training to promote standard precaution guidelines and internal audit. An observational checklist is provided to assess the compliance.		Nurses in the treatment group reported a significant increase in compliance with hand hygiene practices.
Dekker[16] Denmark		To present the progress of the ICLN program in du		Mixed method.		A cross-sectional survey and semi-structured interview were conducted across 74 infection control practitioners.		An overview of the ICLN program across Dutch Hospitals is presented in the document.
Wu[39] China		To investigate the impact of self-identity on career success using a kaleidoscope career model		Cross-sectional survey		583 ICN were surveyed using a self-identity scale, cognitive emotion regulation questionnaire, social support rating scale, and career success scale		Self-identity has a direct positive impact on career success in ICN. Cognitive emotion regulation and social support mediate the relationship between self-identity and career success.
Tian[35] China		To investigate the relationship between organizational support, psychological capital, and ICN’s performance		Cross-sectional		A cross-sectional survey was conducted across 7382 ICNs through online questionnaires.		Both organizational support and psychological capital can significantly improve the work engagement of ICNs
Henderson[33] Australia		To understand the perception of ICNs and ward nursing on omitting infection control activities.		Cross-sectional		A cross-sectional survey was conducted across 500 ICNs through the missed Nursing Care Infection Prevention and Control Survey.		Frequent omissions include “cleaning over-way table prior to delivery of food,” “preoperative showers,” and “screening for infection during admission.” The key reasons for omissions have been identified as workload, knowledge deficit, and patient volume.
Celik[31] Turkey		To evaluate the post-traumatic growth status of ICNs.		Cross-sectional		A cross-sectional survey was conducted across 170 ICNs using the “Nurse Descriptive Information Form” and “Post Traumatic Growth Inventory”		Moderate post-traumatic growth was observed across the study participants. However, factors such as age, marital status, and loss of close ones showed a significant impact.

Roles and factors influencing the ICN performance

The performance of ICNs influences the quality of healthcare received by patients.[13] Therefore, it is vital to have competent ICNs to improve nursing services and meet healthcare organizations’ accreditation and managerial standards.[13,24] Literature has discussed factors that influence the performance of ICNs, such as excessive workload, engaging in activities unrelated to infection control, attitudes toward infection control activities, knowledge, awareness, and self-perceived competencies.[14,15,16,18,21,25,26,27] To enhance the proficiency of ICNs, it is recommended that motivation, administrative support, supervision, training, and evaluation of infection control activities be provided.[13,28,29]

Multiple responsibilities have been shown to interfere with the performance of ICNs.[14,16,21,24,25] These responsibilities include liaising between the infection control team and wards, updating policies and standards, and aiding in detecting outbreaks.[16,21] In the community, ICNs play a diverse role in improving awareness and acting as a resource for policymakers.[12] According to an Italian survey by Quattrin et al.,[25] ICNs engage in activities beyond infection control, such as secretarial and mediating roles in outsourcing management. Jantarasri[26] made a similar observation regarding the burden of multiple responsibilities on nurses, including administration and counseling, which can hinder their level of knowledge.[14] Therefore, there is a growing need for clearly defined job responsibilities, workflow, and philosophy.[21,29]

Few researchers have highlighted the correlation between knowledge and perception of ICN’s performance and the containment of infectious diseases.[14,30,31,32] Specifically, these researchers have studied the knowledge and perception of ICNs on hand hygiene and updated guidelines for infectious diseases such as Ebola.[14,30,33,34] Oh et al.[30] reported adequate knowledge of hand hygiene practices among ICNs in Korea, as assessed using the WHO questionnaire. However, the assessment of attitudes and perceptions revealed a poor score.[30] Further examination showed poor performance in handling disposable instruments in Ebola patients.[14] The evaluation of the ICN training program on infection control measures demonstrated a positive outcome in improving the attitude and practice among nurses. The authors also highlighted a comparable outcome through the training program for ICNs who reflected inadequate knowledge, overwork, and lack of collaboration with colleagues.[18,30] The training program has been successful in improving the performance of ICNs.[30] Therefore, researchers have argued that continuous education and training are necessary to improve the knowledge and awareness of ICNs.[12,14,18,30] In addition to training and education, researchers have recommended updated guidelines and policies to improve infection control practices. This has been suggested by a few scholars irrespective of geographical boundaries[12,14,29,30,33] Prabhakar,[12] Kim et al.[14] Oh et al.,[30] Choi et al.,[29] Tian et al.,[35] and Çelik et al.[31] evaluated the impact of pandemic diseases on the psychological empowerment of ICNs by investigating post-traumatic growth status, which highlighted moderate growth. However, the growth is simultaneously affected by demographic factors such as age, marital status, work experiences, and loss of relatives during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Choi et al.[36] discussed the Korean infection control policy changes adopted after the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome outbreak. According to the new policy, hospitals with high infection control activities receive government subsidies. This led to increased demand for ICNs trained for 16 hours per year.[37] The new guideline increased the demand for certified ICNs, which increased the number of nursing students applying for certification and graduate schools offering master’s level certification.[37] Given the increasing demand for ICNs, researchers have attempted to explore nursing students’ attitudes toward pursuing a career as an ICN.[37] A study from Poland showed that nursing students were less interested in working as ICNs.[38] More than 80% of students preferred not to work as ICNs, mainly due to a lack of exposure to patient care activities.[38] Researchers have investigated the causes, such as the burden of administrative work, lack of respect from other healthcare professionals, and the level of competence that affect the career success of ICNs.[37,38,39] The role of experience and educational level in enhancing the self-competence of ICNs was also highlighted in another study by Kim et al.[40] Freeman et al.[41] developed a career development framework for nursing with “leadership,” “facilitating learning,” “evidence, research and development,” and “clinical practice” as the basis. The National Health Service used this framework to describe the responsibilities of ICNs based on their roles, focusing on improving their skills and professional competencies.[41] This framework also helps nurses assess their performance and learning needs.[41] The workload of ICNs has been classified into advanced nursing practices such as management, surveillance, education, and training for staff and patient families.[40] Compared to other practices, developing infection control guidelines consumes most of the working hours reported by ICNs.[40] This observation is debated through the results from Poland,[42] which argued that monitoring and registering HAIs and audit activities are the most important tasks, consuming more than one-third of working time. This validated by the findings of Trundle et al.[43] who advocated the overutilization of ICNs by involving them with non-infection control activities. The overutilization of ICN increases beyond 130% during the absence of ICN due to the unavailability of replacement.[43] Nurses have also reported job stress from the assigned infection control tasks, professional conflicts among healthcare workers, excess workload, and lack of knowledge on infection control measures as threats to their performance and leading to high turnover rates of ICNs.[28] Henderson et al.[33] compared the perception of ICNs and ward nurses on causes of omission of infection control precautions. A few commonly reported omissions include screening for infection during admissions, preoperative showers, cleaning of tables before food delivery to the patients, and cleaning of equipment. The primary causes of omission of infection control activities are knowledge deficit, workload, and unanticipated hike in the patient volume.[33]

Infection control nursing programs

Previous studies on ICNP have discussed their implementation, outcome evaluation,[8,9,10,11,15,16,28] and challenges.[44,45] Xu[8] and Garvey[10] evaluated the benefits of implementing an ICNP by using infection rates as the study outcome. In hospitals, the ICNP significantly reduced infections such as MSRA[9,10] and Pseudomonas aeruginosa.[10] Similar to hospitals, homecares with elderly populations are susceptible to cross-infection, which threatens the community.[11] Therefore, researchers designed an ICN model at the community level to address these challenges. This included constructing a network of ICNs in homecare settings to audit infection control practices.[11] Such systematic inspection and auditing facilitated easy identification, communication, and preparation to prevent the spread of infection across homecare settings and communities.

An ICNP helps to improve knowledge, empower staff, and facilitate communication between the team and other healthcare professionals, which aids in improving infection control practices.[28,46] Williams et al.[28] designed a program that included an online bedside course that addressed infection prevention principles, evidence-based practice, guideline development, inspection, and feedback. Donati et al.[47] highlighted the role of audit and feedback through ICNs in improving infection control practices. This method was shown to have positive results in increasing nurses’ compliance with standard precautions and improving communication between ICNs.[47]

Similarly, introducing ICNs trained in the basic principles of infection prevention has reduced HAIs drastically.[8,9] For instance, adopting a policy of ward rounds led by an ICN has resulted in an immediate reduction in infections such as MRSA and bacteremia as it aids in early identification and team preparation.[10] Monitoring hand hygiene practices and early communication of infection prevention issues by ICNs have also been shown to reduce HAI and effectively improve healthcare quality.[9] In this study, ICNs were trained in basic infection control measures, such as evaluating hand hygiene practices, identifying and communicating detected infections, developing strategies for supplying and sterilizing equipment, and conducting audits.[8] Therefore, educating healthcare workers on the basics of infection control is an ongoing issue.

While introducing ICNs is effective, some authors have discussed the challenges in maintaining this strategy.[44,45] Randle et al.[44] addressed the impact of lack of authority, facilities, and poor teamwork, resulting in a compromised efficiency of ICNs and infection control practices. A survey of US hospitals on infection control structure and staffing patterns highlighted diversity in designations, experience, working hours, and the number of infection control staff.[45] The study found that most ICNs have less than 2 years of experience, which is reflected in their unsatisfactory performance and knowledge. This highlights the importance of training and certification to improve their competencies, as the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology recommends.[45]

Discussion

This review aimed to explore the research engagement on ICNs after 2000. Factors affecting the performance of ICNs and infection control programs are the key areas that have received significant attention from healthcare researchers. This review highlighted a few critical factors that influence the performance of ICNs and need immediate attention from healthcare administrators. These include multiple job responsibilities of ICNs, lack of knowledge, inadequate training, and excessive workload. In addition, top management’s lack of institutional support, rewards, and poor leadership contribute to poor infection control performance. These observations are consistent with the arguments of some researchers who advocate the need for supervision from senior staff to enhance the performance of ICNs.[47] However, Dewi et al.’s[48] findings oppose our argument, where the authors reported leadership support to ICNs during their daily task. The importance of leadership and managerial support was highlighted by Reisinger et al.[49] by reflecting improved confidence and competencies among infection control staff and strengthening environmental support.

Our review highlighted the prevalence of lack of knowledge and infection control training, which are on par with the findings of Marx et al.,[50] Lowe et al.,[51] Fitria et al.,[52] and Page.[53] This highlights the need for continuous educational programs.[1,14,54] Kakkar et al.[34] reported a remarkable improvement in infection control activities, competencies, and confidence among infection control staff after the successful and sustainable implementation of continuous educational and training programs. Our review also identified understaffing and excessive workload as significant factors contributing to poor ICN performance, which is equally seen in the findings of Barker et al.[32] and Lee et al.[55] Similarly, the lack of multidisciplinary staff engagement that enhances infection control activities is reported in our review. This is in accordance with the findings of McAlearney et al.,[56] which endorse that the engagement of healthcare staff from various departments in infection control activities and harmony in information sharing within the healthcare staff significantly impact reducing HAIs.

Our review underlines the importance of ICNP and the introduction of ICNs in lowering HAIs. In addition, professional benefits achieved by ICNs through ICNP in terms of training and empowerment were discussed. Similar findings were reported in a recent review by Thandar et al.,[2] where introducing infection teams showcased a significant reduction in HAI. However, Seto et al.[57] signaled the operational constraints in delivering a continuous and successful ICNP. The authors reported that high turnover rates, lack of time for training ICNs, and lack of periodic evaluation of ICNPs are a few constraints to be tackled.[57]

Our review sensitizes the need for ICNPs to contain HAIs and enhance ICN’s professional development through continuous education, training, defined job responsibilities, and supervision. Peter et al.[58] advocate for an additional intervention, which is to implement “feedback and audit methods” of infection control activities by infection control staff, including ICNs. This could significantly improve the overall performance of ICNs and other staff and control HAIs. This is achieved when the team critically analyzes the information gathered during the audit and feedback under the guidance of the ICNs, resulting in sustainable progress in infection control activities.[58]

Limitations and scope for future research

Our review has the following limitations. First, the review was limited to WOS, Scopus, CINAHL, PubMed, and Embase articles. Second, we included articles published in the English language and after 2000. This might have resulted in the underrepresentation of articles in other databases and languages published before 2000. Third, we did not include studies that discussed ICN or infection control link nurses as secondary outcomes. Fourth, the articles included in the study underwent quality analysis. This might influence the overall quality of the review’s outcomes. However, Munn et al.[23] reported that the critical appraisal of articles in a scoping review is not mandatory. In addition, certain publications were excluded due to the unavailability of their full text, which contributes to the limitations.

This review focused on recent research on ICNs, specifically their roles, responsibilities, and characteristics. A few studies evaluated INCP. However, the quality of the studies is argumentative. Hence, future studies should consider randomized control trials to examine the effectiveness of such interventions. Despite the evidence regarding the roles and responsibilities of ICNs, there is a conflict regarding the non-uniformity of job description provided. Their responsibilities involve infection and non-infection control activities, which vary across different organizations. Therefore, a descriptive study is required to understand the existing job responsibilities and to design a specific job description that can improve the performance of ICNs. To study the current system and develop the structure and job responsibilities for ICNs, researchers can consider Freeman’s[41] career development framework. For a successful infection control program, an interdisciplinary approach is necessary.[15] Therefore, future researchers should focus on creating a sustainable interdisciplinary team. Finally, there is limited evidence on infection control nursing from a community-level perspective. Therefore, future studies should focus on exploring existing practices and evaluating them.

Conclusion

This review presents a comprehensive analysis of the literature published after 2000 on infection control nursing. Data were collected from Scopus, PubMed, Web of Science, and EBSOPUS by using keywords related to infection control nursing. The review identified factors that influence the performance of ICNs and factors that demotivate student nurses from choosing infection control nursing as a career option. The review discussed strategies that healthcare organizations adopt at community and institutional levels to reduce HAIs and the challenges faced in implementing sustainable programs. Furthermore, this review highlighted the limitations and suggested areas for future research in infection control nursing in the knowledge domain.

Ethical consideration

The scoping review did not include human subjects, tissues, or data. Therefore, ethical approval was not necessary.

Conflicts of interest

There are no conflicts of interest.

Funding Statement

Nil.