Heartbeat: Kiranjit Phanasan – face mask fit tester extraordinaire

June 7, 2019

D17 ward are breathing easy following the actions of a determined ward manager. On learning that her ward was particularly low on compliance with infection control face mask fit testing, Acting Ward Manager, Kiranjit Phanasan took it in to her own hands to make amends and bring the ward back up to standard.

Sharing the story of D17’s rise to IPC compliance, Acting Matron, Tracy Weston said, “D17 has had a number of staff changes and with this we found that there were quite a few colleagues who were out of date with their fit testing. As soon as I made Kiranjit aware of this she took charge of the situation, and leading by example she enrolled herself in to the fit testing course.

“Following completing the fit testing training, Kiranjit borrowed one of the fit testing machines and set to work testing every team member on D17 until they were all tested.”

Whilst most people would stop here, Kiranjit then went on to fit test other gynaecological areas including the emergency gynae assessment areas, the Macmillan CNS team, doctors in training, registrars, surgical care practitioners and anyone else she could get her hands on a fit a mask to.

Singing the praises of Kiranjit, Matron, Tracy Weston continued, “This was a tremendous effort and achievement by Kiranjit to not only ensure her own ward was safe but to then take the time to help other departments too.

Congratulating Kiranjit on her hard work, Infection Prevention and Control Nurse Advisor, Kas Aheer said, “Well done Kiranjit for taking the lead for ensuring the safety of colleagues, we’re continuing to train more and more fit testers so that we can ensure everyone has had the opportunity to be fit tested.”

If you would like to be a face mask fit tester, training is available through the infection control team, contact ext. 5900.