Microbiology for NORCET: Infection Control, Sterilisation & Common Pathogens
Practical Infection Control Over Organism Trivia
Rather than trying to memorise every pathogen family, focus your Microbiology revision on practical infection control: the differences between sterilisation, disinfection and antisepsis, the correct autoclave parameters, and standard precautions in a clinical setting. These recur in NORCET more often than organism-specific trivia, reflecting the exam's overall emphasis on applied nursing practice over pure biological science.
Sterilisation vs Disinfection vs Antisepsis
Understand the distinction clearly: sterilisation eliminates all microbial life including spores, disinfection reduces pathogens on inanimate surfaces but does not necessarily kill spores, and antisepsis applies specifically to living tissue. NORCET questions often test which method is appropriate for a given situation: surgical instruments require sterilisation, while a patient's skin before an injection requires antisepsis, not disinfection or sterilisation.
Autoclave parameters (temperature, pressure and duration) are a specific, memorisable fact set worth committing to memory precisely, since questions on this topic tend to test the exact standard values rather than approximate ranges.
Hand Hygiene and Hospital-Acquired Infections
Hand hygiene moments and hospital-acquired infection prevention are the other major practical focus: know the WHO's recommended moments for hand hygiene and the basic principles of preventing catheter-associated and ventilator-associated infections, since these applied-prevention questions are more common than pure microbiology content in recent papers.