Journal of Infection Prevention最新文献

Background: Acute upper respiratory tract infections are the most common infections among school children. Improving water, sanitation, and hygiene facilities in schools is an important intervention for the healthy development of children. The most important component of this intervention is hand washing, which is the primary infection control measure.

Aim: This study aims to test the effect of the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) based hand hygiene intervention program on the health outcomes and school absenteeism of students.

Method: The study is quasi-experimental with pretest-posttest control groups. The study was conducted with 159 students (intervention: 82, control: 77) in two separate primary schools that were assigned to intervention and control groups. The intervention group were applied a TPB-based hand hygiene intervention program for the school children. The data were collected using the Student Questionnaire, Hand Hygiene Assessment Question Form, and Surveillance Form.

Findings: The mean Hand Hygiene Assessment Question Form Hand Hygiene Behavior scores did not differ between the groups in the pre- and posttest (p > .05). In the posttest, the frequency of encountering a ten-week-upper respiratory tract infection symptom (U = 5277.50 p < .0001), school absenteeism days (p = .046) and absenteeism episodes (p = .043) was lower in the intervention group than in the control group.

Conclusions: The findings suggest that was concluded that the TPB-based hand hygiene intervention program did not make a difference in creating hand hygiene behavior in school children compared to the classical education. The program was effective in reducing upper respiratory tract infections and school absenteeism due to these infections.

Background: After an increase of central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs) at our community hospital in 2021, a case-control study suggested that patients with CLABSIs were 3.0 times more likely to have missed daily chlorhexidine gluconate (CHG) bathing than patients without CLABSIs.

Objective: To increase the rate of daily CHG bathing in hospitalized patients with central lines and subsequently reduce the number of CLABSIs.

Methods: Our pre-post intervention was launched on September 2022 and consisted of enhancements to the electronic health record (EHR) to simplify the identification of overdue CHG bathing instances to increase compliance, and therefore decrease the CLABSI rate at our hospital. A workflow was implemented Monday-Friday utilizing these EHR enhancements for active surveillance to engage frontline nursing staff and address gaps in care in real time.

Results: After the initiative was implemented, adherence to daily CHG bathing increased from 94.9% to 95.3%, with a considerable disparity between weekdays (97.6%) and weekends (89.3%). After weekend data were excluded, the post-intervention increase in the adherence rate was statistically significant (p = .003).

Discussion: This initiative underscored the importance of involving health care informatics partners and showed how technology can bridge gaps in health care quality. Outreach and reminders effectively improved CHG bathing adherence by emphasizing the importance of consistent communication and follow-up.

Background: Systematic surveillance of Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) in our institution showed a reduction in the incidence of healthcare associated CDI (HA-CDI) during COVID-19 pandemic. Aim: Our objective was to search for factors related to this reduction. Methods: We retrospectively studied the trend of the incidences of HA-CDI, Multidrug Resistant (MDR) organisms, total antibiotic and chlorine consumptions as well as the influence of the last two on the incidence of HA-CDI. Results: During COVID-19 pandemic, the HA-CDI incidence was reduced with respect to the previous years, although total antibiotic consumption was found to increase (p < .01). MDR organisms' incidence was found to increase (p < .01), as well as the chlorine consumption (p = .04) which was the only factor to be related to the decreased rates of HA-CDI (r = -0.786, p < .05). Discussion: In our institution, COVID-19 epidemic overlapped with the reduction in the HA-CDI's incidence. This could be due to faithful compliance with the contact precaution measures but then, we would expect the incidence of MDR organisms to decrease as well. Chlorine usage for environmental cleaning was generalized during pandemic. It was the only factor to be related to the decreased rates of HA-CDI, highlighting the importance of environmental cleaning as a measure for HA-CDI prevention.

Background: Healthcare-associated infections are strictly related to healthcare practices. A head nurse stimulates and motivates nurses, boosts nurses' job performance and satisfaction, and can influence adverse event development.

Aim: To explore the relationship between healthcare-associated infections and head nurse leadership style.

Methods: A systematic review was conducted. The search was conducted from 1973 until March 2022 on PubMed, Cochrane Library, Scopus, CINAHL, Web of Science, Embase, and APA PsycInfo databases. The review followed the Joanna Briggs Institute Manual for Evidence Synthesis and the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses. A thematic synthesis and critical appraisal of the included studies have been conducted.

Results: Eight articles were included in this review. Head nurses' leadership, supported by the organization, can positively influence the job performance and job satisfaction of nurses by reducing infection rates associated with vascular access and urinary catheters.

Discussion: Authentic and transformational nurse leadership styles can foster targeted interventions and improvements tailored to preventing and controlling healthcare-associated infections. Even if there is limited evidence, the results support that the occurrence of infections can be reduced by leadership strategies implemented by head nurses.

Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) are an increasing concern and educational programmes may increase healthcare professionals' adherence to infection prevention and control (IPC) guidelines. However, despite evidence regarding the effectiveness of peer-to-peer educational programmes, to our knowledge, no studies have been conducted in non-hospital settings. A post-intervention pilot study based on peer-to-peer meetings on HAI topics in home care and nursing homes was conducted. A survey was administered to eligible nurses willing to participate, collecting socio-demographic data, the perceived effectiveness and quality of the programme, and the topics for future meetings. Twelve 'Pills of Prevention' seminars were held, enrolling 115 nurses and nursing aides. Of the 115 participants, 81 (70.4%) were eligible and 31 (38.2%) completed the survey. Participants found tangible changes in the clinical settings mostly at the individual level, with bundles/checklists delivered during the meetings mostly being used in everyday practice. Regarding the perceived quality, the overall satisfaction with the programme was high due to the opportunity to 'freely share own opinions' and the 'appropriateness of selected topics'. 'Bundles/checklists' were seen as the most interesting topics to prioritize in the future among home care nurses, while HAIs in COVID-19 patients were the least. A community-based peer-to-peer programme, still neglected in terms of HAIs' continuing education strategies, is appreciated and may produce benefits both at the individual and the group level.

Background: It is very important for healthcare professionals to know the isolation precautions and apply the isolation rules correctly in COVID-19 process.

Aim: This study was conducted to determine the COVID-19 fear levels and isolation compliance levels of nurses.

Method: This descriptive, cross-sectional, and correlational study was conducted between December 2020-February 2021 with 217 nurses working in a public hospital in Istanbul/Turkey. Data were collected using the Sociodemographic-Form, the COVID-19 Fear Scale, and the Compliance with Isolation Measures Scale.

Results: Statistically significant difference was found between the level of compliance with the isolation measures and the education level of the nurses (p = .011), as well as their professional position (p = .026) (p < .05). A positive, low-level significant relationship was determined between the COVID-19 fear of nurses and their compliance with isolation measures (r = 0.168; p = .015).

Conclusions: It was determined that nurses' compliance with Isolation Precautions and their level of fear were high during the COVID-19 pandemic. It was observed that nurses' fear levels and isolation adaptation levels were related.