Breaking the chain of infection in community care by adapting prevention and control strategies

Community nurses, district nurses and other healthcare practitioners undertake many home visits and may unwittingly become a link in the chain of infection. Home visits present unique challenges to infection prevention because of the varied environmental conditions encountered, informal caregiving from family members for example and patient vulnerability. Community nurses must apply standard infection prevention and control principles consistently, adapt to the home environment of each patient and support patients and carers through safe nursing practice. This article draws together the current evidence on infection prevention in the community care environment, and highlights information on the chain of infection, risk assessment, hierarchy of controls, standard precautions, environmental hygiene and caregiver engagement. Evidence from home healthcare and public health studies shows that education and structured strategic frameworks improve adherence to infection prevention practices and reduce preventable infections. By maintaining vigilance, professional judgement and sharing responsibility as a team, community nurses play a central role in safeguarding patients and public health.