Journal of Infection Prevention

BACKGROUND: New technologies, such as electronic monitoring systems, have been developed to promote increased adherence to hand hygiene among healthcare workers. However, challenges when implementing these technologies in clinical settings have been identified. AIM: The aim of this study was to explore healthcare workers' experiences when implementing an electronic monitoring system to assess hand hygiene in a clinical setting. METHOD: Interviews with healthcare workers (registered nurses, nurse assistants and leaders) involved in the implementation process of an electronic monitoring system ( n = 17) were conducted and data were analyzed according to the grounded theory methodology formulated by Strauss and Corbin...

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BACKGROUND: Meaningful research creates evidence for Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) practice. AIM: To establish Infection Prevention Society (IPS) members' research priorities to support future research projects. METHODS: A mixed methods convergent parallel design incorporating a cross-sectional survey of IPS members (2022-2023), and focus group findings from the IPS Consultative Committee, (October 2022). Quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics...

The World Health Organization's (WHO) World Hand Hygiene Day continues to "bring people together and accelerate hand hygiene action at the point of care in health care to contribute to a reduction in health care-associated infections and the achievement of safer, quality health care for all."

OBJECTIVE: To describe a multicenter outbreak of R . pickettii that occurred in a large number of critically ill patients in a city in Colombia, during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: In April 2021, the National Institute for Food and Drug Surveillance (INVIMA) reported an outbreak of R . pickettii infection associated with contaminated intravenous medications. The Municipal Health Department began collecting data for all cases identified by the hospitals and the results of microbiological studies...

BACKGROUND: Peripheral intravenous catheterization, as well as drug administration through it, represents one of the most performed procedures by the Nursing team and, for that, precautions need to be adopted to offer harm-free care. OBJECTIVE: To verify the association of Nursing professionals' work shift and training time with proper disinfection of intravenous catheter devices in pediatric units. METHODS: A cross-sectional and analytical study conducted between June and August 2021 in three hospitalization units of a Pediatric Hospital...

BACKGROUND: Unscheduled dressing changes for central venous lines (CVLs) have been shown to increase the risk of bloodstream infections. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study is to determine if the use of an innovative dressing change kit reduces the rate of unscheduled dressing changes. METHODS: This pre-post interventional study took place at a large, academic, tertiary care center in metro Detroit, Michigan, the United States. We assessed the impact of the interventional dressing change procedure kit on the rate of unscheduled dressing changes for adult patients who underwent placement of a CVL inclusive of a central catheter, peripherally inserted central catheter, or hemodialysis catheter...

Blood cultures are the primary method for diagnosing bloodstream infections. However, blood culture contamination (BCC) can lead to unnecessary antibiotic treatment, additional tests, and extended patient time in the hospital. The aim of this quality improvement project was to evaluate healthcare workers' knowledge of blood culture collection protocols and evaluate the blood culture contamination rates of laboratory and non-laboratory staff. We performed a retrospective review of contaminated cultures between May 2021 and April 2022, and anonymous surveys were distributed to assess staff knowledge of proper blood culture collection protocols...

BACKGROUND: During the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK, ambulance staff continued to deliver direct patient care whilst simultaneously adapting to a considerable escalation in evolving infection prevention and control (IPC) practices. AIM: To enable learning to benefit future planning, this qualitative article aims to describe ambulance staff's experiences of this rapid escalation of IPC practices. METHOD: Three online surveys were presented during the acceleration, peak, and deceleration phases of the pandemic's first wave in the UK (2020)...

BACKGROUND: Hand hygiene and its significance for reducing the spread of infection is well evidenced and has been brought into sharp focus following the COVID-19 pandemic. Although a crucial clinical skill in ensuring safe healthcare, little is known regarding nursing students' effectiveness of hand hygiene practice. AIM: The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of an educational intervention on hand hygiene practice, designed by the research team for first year pre-registration nursing students...

BACKGROUND: During the COVID-19 pandemic, an abundance of literature relating to the efficacy of face masks on reducing transmission of COVID-19 in non-healthcare settings emerged. AIM/OBJECTIVE: The aim of this scoping review was to allow the identification of: types of evidence conducted in this area; knowledge gaps and common concepts relating to mask efficacy in non-healthcare settings. METHODS: A comprehensive literature search was conducted in PubMed, CINAHL, MEDLINE, Embase and the Irish Management Institute bibliographic database on December 15th, 2021...

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No abstract text is available yet for this article.

BACKGROUND: Estimates of the prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) amongst people who inject drugs are in the range of 50%. Opioid Agonist Treatment (OAT) clinics have a large proportion of people who inject drugs. These clinics, therefore, present an excellent opportunity to identify and treat patients with HCV. Despite this, it remains unclear as to how well these clinics screen patients for HCV. AIM: This study aims to quantify the rate of HCV screening of patients that enrolled into treatment at an OAT clinic attached to a large teaching hospital in NSW...

Variations in the literature support the benefit of contact precautions for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) infections in the hospital setting. During personal protective equipment shortages throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, contact precautions were discontinued for MRSA and VRE-infected patients. Rates of hospital-acquired MRSA and VRE infections were compared before and after this intervention, along with hand hygiene proportions. Contact precaution discontinuation did not lead to an increase in hospital-acquired MRSA or VRE infections...

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No abstract text is available yet for this article.

BACKGROUND: The application of alcohol-based hand rub on hands (ABHR) can prevent the transmission of microorganisms. But, in some situations the practices remain perfectible. AIM: The aim of this study was to assess the self-reported ABHR practices of healthcare workers (HCWs) and to identify the factors associated with better ABHR compliance. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted using the French national "Pulpe'friction" audit, from 1st January 2020 to 31st December 2020, in healthcare facilities and social welfare facilities in France...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

No abstract text is available yet for this article.