Margaret Evans

Infection Prevention and Control Clinical Nurse Consultant

Royal Women's Hospital

“My role is infection prevention control and staff health screening & vaccinations. My role is to keep both patients and staff safe from any infectious disease or new diseases and any super bugs.

I’m passionate about education. Although I don’t work directly with patients much I try and empower staff to have safe work practices.

When I’m on annual leave, I regularly go to the highlands of Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. It’s the really simple things we do here that can save so many lives up there. I teach the local staff ‘Clean care is safer care’, hand hygiene and how to make their own alcohol hand rub. Care and sterilising instruments is always a challenge when there is limited running water and often no electricity. The best we can do sometimes is scrub the instruments twice with a neutral detergent. We are so fortunate in Australia with our health system compared to our near neighbours.

I love my job. It’s a job that keeps changing. The diseases keep changing, pandemics keep coming, you are always on the go.”