RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Phone hygiene is increasingly recognized in infection prevention. We aimed to explore the beliefs, attitudes and performance of phone hygiene amongst healthcare workers (HCWs) in the major operation theatre (MOT) complex of a Singapore tertiary acute care hospital. We also monitored the impact of phone hygiene stations, introduced to improve phone hygiene. METHODS: We sent two online anonymous surveys to the Departments of Anaesthesia and MOT Nurses one month before and after we set up phone hygiene stations. Four phone hygiene stations displaying visual phone hygiene reminders and Mikrozid® sensitive wipes were set up at MOT entrances. RESULTS: A total of 205 and 91 HCWs responded to the first and second surveys respectively. In the first survey, 11.5% cleaned their phones daily while 9.4% never cleaned their phones. These changed to 16.9% and 3.8% respectively after the introduction of phone hygiene stations. 80.0% in the first survey said they would clean their phones more often if there were a readily accessible disinfection method in the MOT. A majority believed phones are a source of healthcare associated infection. Common reasons for not cleaning phones were 'lack of available resources' and 'I don't think about it.' Senior doctors were the least compliant to phone hygiene. CONCLUSION: Phone hygiene is easily overlooked during our busy workday. Besides increasing awareness of phone hygiene, having a readily available disinfection method in the MOT complex is important to improve phone hygiene. We suggest HCWs clean their phones before entering and/or after leaving the MOT daily.
RESUMO
INTRODUCTION: We aimed to report the ten-year incidence and trend of sharps injuries and splash exposures (SISE), and analyse the causative instruments and risk factors leading to these injuries to identify potential areas of improvement. METHODS: A retrospective review of self-reported SISE incidents from 2005 to 2014 was conducted in Singapore General Hospital. Data was extracted from the electronic database of the Department of Infection Prevention and Control. Incidence of SISE was calculated per 1,000 healthcare workers (HCWs) per year. RESULTS: Over the ten-year period, a total of 1,901 SISE were reported. The average SISE incidence per year was 110.5 per 1,000 doctors and 22.8 per 1,000 nursing staff, with an overall incidence of 28.9 per 1,000 HCWs. The incidence of SISE decreased from 30.3 to 22.0 per 1,000 HCWs per year from 2005 to 2014, while that for splash exposures increased from 1.9 to 3.7 per 1,000 HCWs per year. Doctors reported the highest number of SISE (43.7%), followed by nurses (37.7%). Top mechanisms of injury were intraoperative procedures (22.8%), drawing blood (14.4%) and splash exposures (13.7%). CONCLUSION: Overall incidence of SISE decreased over the decade. Improved training and increasing use of safety devices, education and awareness could have contributed to the fall in incidence of sharps injuries; these measures should be reinforced and continued. However, the incidence of splash exposures increased over the same period. Preventive measures such as the use of protective goggles and face shields, together with personal protective equipment, should be emphasised and encouraged.