Using photon disinfection technologies for reducing bioburden in hospitals.

BACKGROUND: Environmental cleaning and disinfection is the basis of the prevention of healthcare-acquired infections (HAIs). AIM: This study aimed to describe photon disinfection technologies (PDTs), report their impact on inactivating micro-organisms and preventing HAIs and to create recommendations for their implementation in hospital settings. METHODS: An integrated literature review was completed to evaluate and report the impact of PDTs in hospital settings. The quality of 23 articles were assessed, their contents analysed and results reported according to the PICOT model. FINDINGS: The microbiological impact of the PDT varied by micro-organism, settings and according to the used devices. It was crucial that environmental cleaning was completed before the disinfection. CONCLUSION: The implementation of PDT in the hospital setting requires inquiry from the viewpoints of microbiological, environmental, occupational, technical and human safety. To enhance the safe implementation of PDTs, the construction and use of evidence-based global standards for PDT are crucial.

Aseptic practice recommendations for circulating operating theatre nurses.

Aseptic practices prevent exposure of a surgical wound to microbes, operating theatre environment and personnel. The circulating nurse assists the operating theatre personnel and supervises aseptic practices preventing surgical site infections. In the absence of analytical tools, few studies exist on intraoperative nursing-related aseptic practices. This study introduces recommendations to assess the role of the circulating nurse in aseptic practices. The authors used international recommendations and research findings to construct a 20-item self-report instrument with a demonstrated reliability across the scale. The authors structured the scale based on three phases: establishment; maintenance; and disestablishment of a sterile operating field. The tool was tested among operating theatre and day surgery nurses, and compared the differences in the mean acceptance rates of aseptic practice recommendations based on background characteristics. College-level nurses and nurses with 15 or more years' work experience accepted the recommendations at higher levels than bachelor-level nurses and nurses with less work experience. Continual assessment of the evidence base and comprehensive evaluation represent important components in further developing the tool. A reasonable number of items covering clinical practice are necessary for assessing the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of aseptic practices, and a larger response rate is needed to validate the tool in future.

Reducing surgical nurses' aseptic practice-related stress.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: This paper aims to explore aseptic practice-related stress in surgery. The objectives are to define stress-related factors and the means to reduce the stress. BACKGROUND: Occupational stress is related to personal characteristics: job satisfaction and physiological and psychological well-being. The stress symptoms are often classified as part of a negative mood. Nurses have expressed stress when deadening their conscience to external demands with co-workers or internal working role-related demands. Surgery nurses expect fair division of work and compliance with rules. The hospital management, technology and the medical profession, instead of the needs of the patient, are recognised as a danger in the development of surgery nurses' role. DESIGN: A qualitative stimulated recall interview was performed in the surgery of the university hospital. METHODS: Thirty-one operations were videotaped, and 31 nurses interviewed during videotape stimulation. The 1306 text pages were transcripted and analysed by a qualitative membership categorisation device analysis. RESULTS: The analysis revealed aseptic practice-related stress which constructed a sixteen level category. The membership categorisation identified connections between qualitatively attributed personnel and seven stress factors: working experience; time; equipment; person; patient; working morals and power. Final analysis revealed nurses reducing aseptic practice-related stress by safe, peaceful, competent and relative means. CONCLUSIONS: The aseptic practice-related stress varied from positive motivating feelings to exhaustion. The stress was experienced by medical and nursing co-workers and reduced by means which varied according to expertise and co-workers. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: This study showed needs for both the shared multiprofessional documentation of aseptic practice and better adherence to recommendations. Constructive means are useful when solving conflicts and replacing person-related aseptic practice with evidence-based. They may support nurses' professional growth, reduce their stress and increase the surgical patient's safety.