Infection Prevention and Control Nursing

Overview

Offered by the Department of Nursing Education in the Faculty of Health Sciences, this 120-credit programme equips students with the knowledge, skills, and ethical grounding to lead IPC programmes, conduct epidemiological surveillance, manage disease outbreaks, and contribute to antimicrobial stewardship within the South African health system. Teaching is highly participative, combining weekly seminars, blended learning through Moodle, simulation, and supervised clinical placement. The programme is offered part-time over two years on a day-release basis, or full-time over one year.

Career Opportunities

Graduates are prepared for specialist IPC roles across South Africa's public and private health sectors as IPC coordinators, antimicrobial stewardship leads, and outbreak response specialists with the programme articulating to a Master of Science in Nursing or Master of Public Health (NQF Level 9) for those pursuing research in healthcare-associated infections, epidemiology, or implementation science.

The specialist knowledge gained also creates pathways into health policy and regulatory roles within national bodies such as the NICD and the National Department of Health, as well as consultancy with medical device, diagnostics, and pharmaceutical companies where IPC expertise is increasingly valued. Internationally, graduates are sought and within global health organisations such as the WHO and Africa CDC; particularly in outbreak response, antimicrobial resistance programmes, and health system strengthening initiatives.

Curriculum

The programme requires students to complete 2 compulsory courses for a total of 120 credits. Within the 120 credits there is also a structured clinical practice requirement.

Compulsory Courses:

• Scholarship and Fundamentals of Infection Prevention and Control Nursing (60 Credits)
• Specialist Practice of Infection Prevention and Control Nursing (60 Credits)

Scholarship and Fundamentals of Infection Prevention and Control Nursing (60 Credits)

This course establishes the scholarly and professional foundation for specialist IPC nursing practice.

It covers two modules:

Scholarship for Specialist Nursing Practice, which addresses clinical leadership, evidence-based practice, interprofessional collaboration, and professional practice development; and

Perspectives in Infection Prevention and Control Nursing, which introduces the legislative and strategic frameworks governing IPC in South Africa, ethical principles in IPC practice, and the precautionary principles underpinning infection prevention.

Specialist Practice of Infection Prevention and Control Nursing (60 Credits)

This course develops advanced specialist competence across the core domains of IPC practice through three focused clinical modules:

Infection Prevention and Control in the Community, covering water, sanitation and hygiene, and community-based IPC strategies;

Infection Prevention and Control in Healthcare Facilities, covering hospital design and built environments, healthcare-associated infections, antimicrobial stewardship, and clinical biochemistry and diagnostic services; and

Disease Outbreak Management, covering surge capacity and preparation, epidemiology and surveillance, communication strategies, and post-outbreak management.

Clinical Requirements

Integral to the 120 credits is a minimum of 720 hours of Work Integrated Learning (WIL): 144 hours for the core scholarship module and 576 hours for the specialist modules. At least 50% of all WIL must be supervised and mentored, with a portion conducted through simulation. Clinical placements are completed across accredited sites including Community and Mobile Clinics, Infection Prevention and Control Departments, Central Sterile Services, Adult ICU, Neonatal ICU, Operating Theatre, and Dialysis units. Students must demonstrate clinical competence through formative and summative Integrated Patient Care Assessments conducted in practice settings.

Entry Requirements

• Bachelor of Nursing (R174, R425), Diploma in Nursing (R425) or equivalent qualification at NQF Level 7, recognised by the South African Nursing Council (SANC).
• Current registration with SANC as a Professional Nurse.
• Minimum two years' post-registration clinical nursing experience.
• Basic knowledge of infection prevention and control principles is assumed.

University Application Process

University Fees and Funding

Click here to see the current average tuition fees. The Fees site also provides information about the payment of fees and closing dates for fees payments. Once you have applied you will be able to access the fees estimator on the student self-service portal.

For information about postgraduate funding opportunities, including the postgraduate merit award, click here. The University's Postgraduate Funding portal is a database of scholarships, bursaries and other funding opportunities available to Wits postgraduate students. Please also check your School website for bursary opportunities. NRF bursaries: The National Research Foundation (NRF) offers a wide range of opportunities in terms of bursaries and fellowships to students pursuing postgraduate studies.