Factors predisposing hospitals and nursing home staff to use personal protective equipment

Background

As physical contact is the one of the major transmission modes for a COVID-19 infection, the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) by nursing staff is warranted. A focus has been placed on the availability of PPE in the recent literature, but data are lacking on the actual use and the factors that predispose nursing staff in hospitals and nursing homes to use PPE are missing.

Aim

We investigated the availability and use of PPE and collected data on associated factors regarding the use of PPE, by nursing staff in hospitals and nursing homes in Austria.

Methods

We used data from two cross-sectional online surveys, with nursing staff recruited in the first and second wave of COVID-19.

Findings

The availability and use of surgical-face masks (SFM) and filtering-facepiece (FFP) masks increased in both settings during the second COVID-19 wave. In both settings, the availability of the PPE was associated with the use of gowns and FFP masks. Moreover, caring for a person suspected of or affected by COVID-19 was associated with the use of gowns, SFM, and FFP masks in both settings.

Discussion

Intra-personal factors such as age, sex, professional qualification, or work experience did not seem to significantly influence the usage of PPE in these settings. Our study findings show that the efforts invested to keep healthcare staff and residents safe and healthy needed to start at an organisational level.

Conclusions

These findings highlight the need for adequate nursing management training, since this influences the provision of high-quality nursing care.