Integration of IPC/WASH critical conditions into quality of care and quality improvement tools and processes: Bangladesh case study.

Unsafe patient care in hospitals, especially in low- and middle-income countries, is often caused by poor infection prevention and control (IPC) practices; insufficient support for water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH); and inadequate waste management. We looked at the intersection of IPC, WASH, and the global initiative of improving health care quality, specifically around maternal and newborn care in Bangladesh health facilities. We identified 8 primary quality improvement and IPC/WASH policy and guideline documents in Bangladesh and analyzed their incorporation of 30 subconditions under 5 critical conditions: water; sanitation; hygiene; waste management/cleaning; and IPC supplies, guidelines, training, surveillance, and monitoring. To determine how Bangladesh health care workers implemented the policies, we interviewed 33 informants from 16 public and private facilities and the national level. Bangladesh's 8 primary guidance documents covered 55% of the 30 subconditions. Interviews showed that Bangladesh health facility staff generally rely on eight tools related to quality improvement (five); IPC (two); and supportive supervision (one) plus a robust supervision mechanism. The stakeholders identified a lack of human resources and environmental hygiene infrastructure and supplies as the main gaps in providing IPC/WASH services. We concluded that the Bangladesh government had produced substantial guidance on using quality improvement methods to improve health services. Our recommendations can help identify strategies to better integrate IPC/WASH in resources including standardizing guidelines and tools within one toolkit. Strategizing with stakeholders working on initiatives such as universal health coverage and patient safety to integrate IPC/WASH into quality improvement documents is a mutually reinforcing approach.

Infection prevention and control status at public hospitals and factors associated with COVID-19 infection among healthcare workers in Myanmar: A cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Hospitals should prepare for emerging diseases and protect healthcare workers (HCWs) from work-related infection. This study aims to assess public hospital preparedness for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) a year after the Myanmar government began implementing COVID-19 prevention measures, and to identify factors associated with work-related COVID-19 infection among HCWs in Myanmar. METHODS: In January 2021, data were collected from 101 hospitals and 706 HCWs who had COVID-19 in Myanmar in 2020. Data from the hospitals included basic information, the status of infection prevention and control (IPC), the preparedness for COVID-19 (guidelines, checklists, fever screening, patient pathway, and training), handwashing facilities, and availability of personal protective equipment (PPE). Data of COVID-19 infected HCWs included age, occupation, workplace, severity and source of COVID-19 infection, knowledge and practice of handwashing, and working environment. Chi-square test was performed to compare the preparedness for COVID-19 among three hospital levels (primary, secondary and tertiary levels). Logistic regression analysis was performed to identify the associated factors of work-related infection of HCWs. RESULTS: The total number of beds, HCWs, and COVID-19 patients in 2020 at the 101 hospitals was 12,888, 14,421, and 19,835, respectively. The availability of PPE was high in hospitals at all levels. Approximately 80% of hospitals had functional status of IPC, set up fever screening and patient pathway, and provided training on IPC and COVID-19. However, only 39.6% of hospitals had developed COVID-19 guidelines and 55.4% had developed checklists. The percentage of hospitals that prepared each measurement was lowest at the primary level. The factors associated with work-related COVID-19 among HCWs were being 30-39 years old, working as a doctor, working at isolation wards, having disinfection technique training, and having enough PPE at the workplace. CONCLUSION: The preparedness for COVID-19 at public hospitals in Myanmar in January 2021 was insufficient, especially in the availability of the guidelines and checklists and at primary hospitals. A support system for hospital pandemic preparedness and monitoring of IPC implementation is needed. The government should prepare for emerging diseases and provide appropriate and adequate PPE and additional training to all HCWs, especially HCWs who work for isolation wards.

Evaluating national infection prevention and control minimum requirements: evidence from global cross-sectional surveys, 2017-22.

BACKGROUND: WHO infection prevention and control (IPC) minimum requirements provide standards to reduce the risk of infection during health-care delivery. We aimed to investigate the global implementation of these requirements at national levels and the progress of doing so across 2021-22 compared with 2017-18 to identify future directions for interventions. METHODS: National IPC focal points were invited to complete an online survey measuring IPC minimum requirements from July 19, 2021, to Jan 31, 2022. The primary outcome was the proportion of countries meeting IPC minimum requirements. Country characteristics associated with this outcome were assessed with beta regression. Subset analyses were conducted to compare the 2021-22 indicators with a WHO IPC survey conducted in 2017-18 and to assess the correlation of the proportion of IPC minimum requirements met with the results of other WHO metrics. FINDINGS: 106 countries (ie, 13 low income, 27 lower-middle income, 33 upper-middle income, and 33 high income) participated in the survey (56% response rate). Four (4%) of 106 met all IPC minimum requirements. The highest scoring IPC core component was multimodal improvement strategies and the lowest was IPC education and training. The odds of meeting IPC minimum requirements was higher among high-income countries compared with low-income countries (adjusted odds ratio 2·7, 95% CI 1·3-5·8; p=0·020). Compared with the 2017-18 survey, there was a significant increase in the proportion of countries reporting an active national IPC programme (65% to 82%, p=0·037) and a dedicated budget (26% to 44%, p=0·037). Evaluation of the IPC minimum requirements compared with other survey instruments revealed a low positive correlation. INTERPRETATION: To build resilient health systems capable of withstanding future health threats, urgently scaling up adherence to WHO IPC minimum requirements is essential. FUNDING: WHO. TRANSLATIONS: For the French and Spanish translations of the abstract see Supplementary Materials section.

Cleaning time and motion: an observational study on the time required to clean shared medical equipment in hospitals effectively.

BACKGROUND: Despite the important role that cleaning plays in reducing the risk of healthcare-associated infections, no research has been undertaken to quantify the time required for effective cleaning and disinfection of different pieces of shared medical equipment commonly used in hospitals. This short report presents the results from a study that aimed to quantify the time required to clean common pieces of shared medical equipment effectively. METHODS: An observational time and motion study was conducted in a nursing simulation laboratory to determine the time required for effective cleaning and disinfection of 12 pieces of shared medical equipment commonly used in hospital. After training, the participants cleaned and disinfected equipment, with the time taken to clean recorded. Cleaning was deemed to be effective if ≥80% of ultraviolet fluorescent dots were removed during the cleaning process. MAIN RESULTS: The time to clean equipment effectively ranged from 50 s [blood glucose testing kit; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0:40-1:00 (min:s)] to 3 min 53 s [medication trolley; 95% CI 3:36-4:11 (min:s)]. The intravenous stand was cleaned most effectively, with 100% of dots removed (N = 100 dots). In contrast, the bladder scanner was the most difficult to clean, with 12 attempts required to meet the 80% threshold for effective cleaning. CONCLUSION: This study will inform staffing and training requirements to plan the cleaning and disinfection of shared medical equipment effectively. The findings can also be used for business cases, and in future cost-effectiveness evaluations of cleaning interventions that include shared medical equipment.

Competency level and determinants among infection prevention and control staff in the Middle East and North Africa region.

BACKGROUND: Competency of the staff working in infection prevention and control (IPC) is the cornerstone of successful IPC programs. The objective was to assess competency level and associated factors among IPC staff working in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was carried out in 2019 among active IPC staff who were members of the Arab Countries Infection Control Network. The questionnaire covered demographic and professional characteristics of IPC staff and characteristics of work facilities and IPC programs. A competency score was created from self-perceived responses to 8 competency domains. The competency score was then transformed into 100-scale and categorized into two groups (≥ median and < median). RESULTS: A total of 176 participants completed the survey. Participants were mostly female (65.7%), and the mean age was 40.2 ± 8.3 years. The mean competency score was 61.4%. It was slightly variable between domains, being highest with preventing transmission of infection (65%) and lowest with sterilization and disinfection (59%). Higher (≥ median) competency score was associated with having CBIC certification (p < 0.001). It was also associated with facilities having IPC plan (p = 0.005), IPC committee (p = 0.049), regular meetings of IPC committee (p < 0.001), and IPC plan included communications with healthcare workers (p < 0.001). Domain-specific competency scores were significantly associated with receiving same domain-specific training (p < 0.05 for all). CONCLUSIONS: The competency levels of IPC staff in the MENA region is still suboptimal. The current finding calls for more regional and national investment in IPC staff by providing up-to-date customized educational and training opportunities.

Indication-based and patient-based hand hygiene performance among nurses working at a university hospital.

The traditional method of monitoring hand hygiene (HH) based on specific indications does not ensure that HH is performed for all required indications during patient care. This study aimed to compare HH performance rates (HHPRs) based on specific indications versus overall patient care among nurses at a university hospital. The study retrospectively analyzed HH monitoring data for 1398 indications from 543 patients and 190 nurses. Observations were conducted continuously, tracking a single healthcare worker from before patient contact until the end of the contact within a 30-min period. The indication-based HHPR was found to be 89.1%, while the patient-based HHPR was 78.1%. In the context of patient-based HHPR, the lowest rates were observed among nurses in the emergency room (48.3%) and those with less than 1 year of work experience (66.7%). Moreover, the largest discrepancy between indication-based and patient-based HHPR was noted among emergency room nurses with less than 1 year of experience. This significant difference underscores the need for patient-based HH monitoring, particularly for nurses in emergency settings and those with limited experience.

An audit of central venous catheter insertion and management practices in two French university hospitals.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the compliance with French guidelines for the prevention of central venous catheter (CVC)-related infections in two university hospitals. METHODS: An observational audit was conducted in 7 wards using a digital tool. RESULTS: The prerequisite of hand hygiene (HH) were respected by 90% of health-care worker; 86% performed HH prior to equipment preparation and 59% repeated it prior to infusion. Wearing gloves when necessary and rinsing were respected in 46.7% and 75.6% of the observations. CONCLUSION: Findings showed an acceptable level of adherence to recommended practices for CVC management. However, barriers of unrespect evidence-based recommendations need to be investigated in depth.

Long-Term Sustainability of Peri-Operative Infection Control Practices: Implementation of "Clean Cut," a Checklist-Based Quality Improvement Program in India.

Introduction: Surgical site infections (SSIs) are a substantial healthcare burden in low- and middle- income countries. "Clean Cut" is a checklist-based infection prevention and control (IPC) program intended to improve compliance to peri-operative IPC standards. We aim to study the short-term and long-term impact of its implementation in a tertiary care cancer referral center. Methods: This was a single institute, prospective interventional study. Patients undergoing elective head-neck surgical procedures were included. The "Clean Cut" program consisting of surveillance, audits, and IPC training was implemented for 6 months, after which there was no active oversight. Post-intervention (T2) and 1-year follow-up (T3) data regarding compliance to core IPC practices and SSI rates were compared with baseline (T1). Results: One hundred eighty six patients were included with 50 (26.9%), 86 (46.2%), and 50 (26.9%) patients at T1, T2, and T3, respectively. At baseline, teams complied with a mean of 3.56 of the six critical components of infection control processes which rose to 4.66 (p < 0.001) at T2, but decreased to 4.02 at T3 (p = 0.053). The SSI rate at baseline decreased significantly after Clean Cut implementation [16 (32%) vs. 12 (13.95%), p = 0.012], but returned to baseline levels after 1 year [17 (34%), p = 0.006]. Conclusion: Implementation of the "Clean Cut" program increases compliance to infection control processes and reduces SSI rates in the short term. Without continuing oversight, these rates return to baseline values after 1 year.

Assessing the incorporation of the 'Five Moments for Hand Hygiene' into nursing procedure textbooks.

AIM: Our aim was to conduct a thorough comparison between the hand hygiene information included in international nursing textbooks and the Slovenian nursing textbook's equivalent content as it relates to nursing procedures. BACKGROUND: Hand hygiene practices are crucial in preventing healthcare-associated infections, which affect millions of patients annually. The idea behind "Five Moments for Hand Hygiene" is to encourage assessing success and boosting self-efficacy. DESIGN: Comparison of hand hygiene content in international nursing textbooks with the content in a Slovenian nursing textbook. METHODS: A study was conducted between March 2023 and March 2024 to compare hand hygiene content in international nursing textbooks. The study included textbooks from the USA and UK, as well as Slovenian (SI) textbooks. The final phase involved comparing hand hygiene performance practices against the WHO Five Moments for Hand Hygiene. RESULTS: The study reviewed 470 nursing procedures across three textbooks, identifying four common ones: female indwelling urinary catheterisation, small-bore feeding tube insertion, enema administration and subcutaneous injections. The USA textbook had the highest number of steps, while the UK textbook had the lowest. Clean protective gloves are not recommended for all nursing procedures, only for small-bore feeding tube insertion and enema administration. The US textbook omitted 12 steps for the female indwelling urinary catheter procedure, while the UK textbook included 10 steps. The SI textbook omitted 8 steps. CONCLUSIONS: Hand hygiene is crucial for healthcare infections prevention and control. The study found differences in the frequency of hand hygiene in these nursing procedures. WHO's Five Moments for Hand Hygiene guidelines are not universally accepted, with inadequate hygiene often observed before patient contact. Future research should review foreign textbooks and update existing ones.

Health facilities readiness for standard precautions to infection prevention and control in Nepal: A secondary analysis of Nepal Health Facility Survey 2021.

BACKGROUND: Improvements in standard precaution related to infection prevention and control (IPC) at the national and local-level health facilities (HFs) are critical to ensuring patient's safety, preventing healthcare-associated infections (HAIs), mitigating Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR), protecting health workers, and improving trust in HFs. This study aimed to assess HF's readiness to implement standard precautions for IPC in Nepal. METHODS: This study conducted a secondary analysis of the nationally-representative Nepal Health Facility Survey (NHFS) 2021 data and used the Service Availability and Readiness Assessment (SARA) Manual from the World Health Organization (WHO) to examine the HF's readiness to implement standard precautions for IPC. The readiness score for IPC was calculated for eight service delivery domains based on the availability of eight tracer items: guidelines for standard precautions, latex gloves, soap and running water or alcohol-based hand rub, single use of standard disposal or auto-disable syringes, disinfectant, safe final disposal of sharps, safe final disposal of infectious wastes, and appropriate storage of infectious waste. We used simple and multiple linear regression and quantile regression models to examine the association of HF's readiness with their characteristics. Results were presented as beta (ß) coefficients and 95% confidence interval (95% CI). RESULTS: The overall readiness scores of all HFs, federal/provincial hospitals, local HFs, and private hospitals were 59.9±15.6, 67.1±14.4, 59.6±15.6, and 62.6±15.5, respectively. Across all eight health service delivery domains, the HFs' readiness for tuberculosis services was the lowest (57.8±20.0) and highest for delivery and newborn care services (67.1±15.6). The HFs performing quality assurance activities (ß = 3.68; 95%CI: 1.84, 5.51), reviewing clients' opinions (ß = 6.66; 95%CI: 2.54, 10.77), and HFs with a monthly meeting (ß = 3.28; 95%CI: 1.08, 5.49) had higher readiness scores. The HFs from Bagmati, Gandaki, Lumbini, Karnali and Sudurpaschim had readiness scores higher by 7.80 (95%CI: 5.24, 10.36), 7.73 (95%CI: 4.83, 10.62), 4.76 (95%CI: 2.00, 7.52), 9.40 (95%CI: 6.11, 12.68), and 3.77 (95%CI: 0.81, 6.74) compared to Koshi. CONCLUSION: The readiness of HFs to implement standard precautions was higher in HFs with quality assurance activities, monthly HF meetings, and mechanisms for reviewing clients' opinions. Emphasizing quality assurance activities, implementing client feedback mechanisms, and promoting effective management practices in HFs with poor readiness can help to enhance IPC efforts.

Reducing Central Line-Associated Bloodstream Infections With a Multipronged Nurse-Driven Approach.

BACKGROUND: Despite implementation of central catheter bundles, central line [catheter]-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs) remain a preventable hospital-acquired infection. LOCAL PROBLEM: A new population of patients with pulmonary artery catheters was introduced to the cardiac progressive care unit, increasing central catheter days, device use, and CLABSI rate. METHODS: A quality improvement project was conducted. Nursing staff implemented a standardized central catheter rounding process 3 days a week to critically assess all central catheter dressings, deter-mine the necessity of each central catheter, and educate patients on the importance of keeping central catheter dressings clean, dry, and intact. Data were collected during central catheter rounds for each patient, entered in an electronic survey tool via mobile devices, and analyzed. RESULTS: From July 2019 through June 2022, a total of 2692 rounds were conducted for 707 individual patients with 3064 central catheters. Main interventions were dressing management, monitoring insertion site bleeding that extended beyond edges of the chlorhexidine gluconate pad, treating patients' allergies to products, and maintaining sustainability within the unit. Central catheter rounds decreased the CLABSI rate from 1.86 to 0.0 despite the continued increase in central catheter days. CONCLUSIONS: Central catheter dressing assessment, intervention, and education help reduce CLABSIs. Central catheter rounds are an important adjunct to the CLABSI bundle. A central catheter dressing management algorithm helps nurses decide when to change a dressing and which type of dressing to use.

Adherence to standard precautions in university hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic: a mixed study.

OBJECTIVE: To analyze adherence to standard precautions by healthcare professionals and associated factors during the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazilian university hospitals. METHOD: Multicenter study, with a mixed approach, with a concomitant incorporated strategy and a sample of 559 health professionals and 53 managers from five university hospitals in Southern Brazil. Data collected online from September 2020 to October 2021 with the Instrument of Variables Related to Standard Precautions and sociodemographic and pandemic-related variables. Descriptive and inferential statistical analysis (Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis test) and content analysis were performed. RESULTS: High level of adherence to standard precautions, with a significant association with having children (p = 0.014); COVID area (p < 0.001), biosafety training (p = 0.018), and social distancing (p < 0.001). The testimonies demonstrated a high risk perception and search for the use of protective equipment and biosafety knowledge. CONCLUSION: High adherence to standard precautions, associated with having children, working in COVID-19 care units, receiving biosafety guidance/training at the institution and practicing social distancing.

Associations between negative patient safety climate and infection prevention practices.

The relationships among positive perceptions of safety climate and better healthcare worker behaviors have been increasingly documented in the literature. The potential influence of negative perceptions is underexplored and has not been examined in relationship to infection prevention practices. We begin to address this gap using data collected as part of a multi-site, cross-sectional study. This brief report describes associations identified between negative perceptions of patient safety climate and standard precaution adherence of hospital-based nurses.

Effectiveness of infection prevention and control interventions in health care facilities in Africa: A systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Health care-associated infections (HAIs) are a major threat to patient safety and quality care. However, they are avoidable by implementing evidence-based infection prevention and control (IPC) measures. This review evaluated the evidence of the effectiveness of IPC interventions in reducing rates of HAIs in health care settings in Africa. METHODS: We searched several databases: CENTRAL, EMBASE, PUBMED, CINAHL, WHO IRIS, and AJOL for primary studies reporting rates of the 4 most frequent HAIs: surgical site infections, central line--associated bloodstream infections, catheter-associated urinary tract infections, ventilator-associated pneumoniae, and increase in hand hygiene compliance. Two reviewers appraised the studies and PRISMA guidelines were followed. RESULTS: Out of 4,624 studies identified from databases and additional sources, 15 studies were finally included in the review. The majority of studies were of pre- and post-test study design. All the studies implemented a combination of interventions and not as stand-alone components. Across all included studies, an improvement was reported in at least 1 primary outcome. CONCLUSIONS: Our review highlights the potential of IPC interventions in reducing HAIs and improving compliance with hand hygiene in health care facilities in Africa. For future research, we recommend more pragmatic study designs with improved methodological rigor.

Reducing pediatric ambulatory central line-associated bloodstream infections in patients at a single institution home health agency.

We conducted a quality improvement project from 2019 to 2021 at a single home health agency to reduce rates of central line-associated bloodstream infection in our ambulatory pediatric population. Annualized central line-associated bloodstream infection rates per 1,000 catheter line days decreased by 20 % during the study period, from a rate of 1.023 to 0.810. This decrease was sustained in the 10-month post-study period with a center line shift of 1.090 to 0.658.

Risk assessment and the use of personal protective equipment in an emergency department: Differing perspectives of emergency and infection control clinicians. A video-vignette survey.

BACKGROUND: The use of personal protective equipment (PPE) in emergency departments (EDs) is an important defense during infectious disease emergencies. However, what counts as appropriate PPE in EDs is contentious and inconsistently implemented in practice. METHODS: An online scenario-based video survey was distributed through purposive sampling, and completed by 270 ED and infection prevention and control clinicians in Australia. A descriptive content analysis was performed on the data, and differences between groups were tested using Fisher exact test. RESULTS: Participants agreed that most items were required in both scenarios. Eye protection, mask use, and hand hygiene frequency were more contentious. Physicians were more likely than nurses, and ED clinicians more likely than infection prevention and control clinicians, to regard items or actions as optional rather than essential. Many ED clinicians, particularly physicians, regarded sequences as too time-consuming to be practical in a busy ED. DISCUSSION: Our findings likely reflect differences in professional roles, competing priorities, and risks, and highlight important contextual characteristics of EDs, such as diagnostic uncertainty, equipment inaccessibility, and resource constraints. CONCLUSIONS: To be feasible, practicable, and thereby effective, PPE guidance in the ED must be designed collaboratively with frontline ED staff, and reflects the complexities of their practice.