Radiographers and other radiology workers' education and training in infection prevention and control: a scoping review

Introduction: Infection prevention and control (IPC) is crucial in healthcare settings, particularly during pandemics like COVID-19. Radiographers play a vital role in maintaining patient safety by following IPC guidelines. However, there is concern that inadequate knowledge and practice of IPC among radiographers may compromise patient safety. Education and training programs can enhance radiographers' understanding of IPC to maintain safety in radiology departments. This scoping review aims to explore the literature on the knowledge of radiographers in IPC and the effectiveness of IPC education/training programs provided to radiographers and other healthcare workers (HCWs) in the radiology department, with a specific focus on the periods before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: This scoping review followed the Joanna Briggs Institute's framework. The steps involved were: Define objectives and questions, align inclusion criteria with objectives, planning the evidence search and extraction, searching for evidence, selecting relevant evidence, extracting evidence, analysing evidence, presenting results, and summarising findings and noting implications. Results: Sixty-eight articles were included. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, practices among radiology HCWs were suboptimal, but improved significantly during the pandemic. During the pandemic, radiology departments implemented education programs to address inconsistence knowledge in IPC. Unfortunately, no studies explored IPC practices after the pandemic, leaving uncertainty about sustained improvements or potential regression. Conclusion: The review highlights the limited assessment of IPC knowledge and practice among radiology HCWs, with most studies recommending further education and training programs. Implications for practice: This scoping review explored IPC education and training among radiology HCWs, which is an important research topic after the COVID-19 pandemic to help reduce infection transmission in healthcare environments.