Perceptions of Teamwork and Knowledge Attitudes of Hemodialysis Unit Nurses on Infection Prevention.

INTRODUCTION: The Nurses of Hemodialysis Units: it is necessary to face HAIs (hospital-acquired infections) as a "well-tuned" teamwork. The aim of this study was to investigate the perceptions of the teamwork as well as the knowledge attitudes of the nurses of hemodialysis units on infection prevention in Greece. METHODOLOGY: A cross-sectional survey was conducted with a sample of 1018 HCWs (health care workers) of hemodialysis units in Greece. The questionnaires used were: Teamwork Perceptions Questionnaire (T-TPQ) TeamSTEPPS®-Instructor Manual, and questionnaire APPENDIX A. RESULTS: The majority of them were nurses (69.45%) and nurse assistants (23.87%). About teamwork perceptions per factor, we observed uniformity in their responses with very high rates of agreement. The attitudes of nurses of hemodialysis units on the prevention of infections were distinguished in particularly high rates of compliance with a high perception of the risk of transmission of infections with better compliance being that of women. Also, women seem to be more knowledgeable about diseases that mostly affect the pediatric population. It seemed that level of knowledge between the two sexes did not differ regarding HBV (63.16% vs. 66.71%, p = 0.430), HCV (63.91% vs. 66.71%, p = 0.553), HIV infection (78.95% vs. 81.76%, p = 0.471), and influenza (55.64% vs. 59.61%, p = 0.394). CONCLUSIONS: This study highlighted for the first time the high level of perceptions of teamwork of the HCWs of the hemodialysis units in Greece. It is recommended to investigate the correct application of prevention measures and to detect the causes of deviation from good practices with subsequent investigations on hemodialysis units of Greece.

Psychometric properties of the workplace psychologically violent behaviors-WPVB instrument. Translation and validation in Greek Health Professionals.

BACKGROUND: Mobbing exerts severe psychological and occupational effects on the victim. This study aims to validate the Yildirim & Yildirim's Workplace Psychologically Violent Behaviors (WPVB) instrument (2008) in the Greek language in Greece, as cultural variations may result in significantly different perceptions of mobbing. METHODOLOGY: A translation process of the WPVB questionnaire scale was followed from the English to the Greek version and a review by a team of experts for its content validity took place, as well. Principal component analysis took place and the Cronbach's index was 0.95. The cross sectional, quantitative study was performed in 1536 health professionals (HPs), working in 11 public hospitals for at least one year with response rate of 76.8%. RESULTS: Factor analysis revealed two factors, and 31-item construct, compared to the four factors and the 33-item construct of the original version of the tool. All items were found to have a statistically significant correlation (p < 0.001). Median score was 0.48. Whereas 25% of answers score was above 1.00, thus suggesting significant mobbing in around 25% of HPs. Association of WPVBs subscales with sex and occupation are had lower values in women as compared to men. Lower scores on "Attack on personality" and "Total mobbing" score were recorded in nurses as compared to doctors. Doctors had lower scores on "Individual's isolation from work" as compared to administrative personnel, while had greater scores on "Individual's isolation from work" as compared to technicians. Nurses had significantly lower scores on "Attack on professional status", "Individual's isolation from work", "Direct attack" and "Total mobbing" score as compared to administrative personnel. CONCLUSIONS: The study highlights that the phenomenon of mobbing exists in Greek HPs regardless of age, gender, level of study and negatively affects their lives. Focusing on improving this area, is expected to promote occupational health and safety of these workers.

Cutaneous Disease as Sole Clinical Manifestation of Protothecosis in a Boxer Dog.

Prototheca wickerhamii is ubiquitous, saprophytic achlorophyllous algae that cause opportunistic infections in the dog and cat and disseminated disease usually in immunocompromised animals. In this report an uncommon case of canine cutaneous protothecosis is presented. A 6-year-old female boxer was brought in with skin lesions that consisted of nodules and generalized footpad hyperkeratosis, depigmentation, and erosion. Cytology and histopathology showed pyogranulomatous inflammation along with organisms containing round sporangia with spherical sporangiospores. PCR and sequencing identified the causal organism as Prototheca wickerhamii. Therapy applied in this patient with either fluconazole alone or combination of amphotericin B and itraconazole proved effective only for footpad lesions but not for skin nodules. Systemic therapy seems to be ineffective for skin nodules, at least in chronic cases of canine cutaneous protothecosis. Although canine protothecosis usually presents with the disseminated form, cutaneous disease as sole clinical manifestation of the infection may also be witnessed.