Limited Impact of Sustained Simple Feedback Based on Soap and Paper Towel Consumption on the Frequency of Hand Washing in an Adult Intensive Care Unit

2002 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 120-126 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marvin J. Bittner ◽  
Eugene C. Rich ◽  
Paul D. Turner ◽  
William H. Arnold

Objective:To determine whether hand washing would increase with sustained feedback based on measurements of soap and paper towel consumption.Design:Prospective trial with a nonequivalent control group.Setting:Open multibed rooms in the Omaha Veterans Affairs Medical Center's Surgical Intensive Care Unit (SICU) and Medical Intensive Care Unit (MICU).Subjects:Unit staff.Intervention:Every weekday from May 26 through December 8,1998, we recorded daytime soap and paper towel consumption, nurse staffing, and occupied beds in the SICU (intervention unit) and the MICU (control unit) and used these data to calculate estimated hand washing episodes (EHWEs), EHWEs per occupied bed per hour, and patient-to-nurse ratios. In addition, from May 26 through June 26 (baseline period) and from November 2 through December 8 (follow-up period), live observers stationed daily for random 4-hour intervals in the MICU and the SICU counted actual hand washing episodes (CHWEs). The intervention consisted of posting in the SICU, but not in the MICU, a graph showing the weekly EHWEs per occupied bed per hour for the preceding 5 weeks.Results:Directly counted hand washing fell in the SICU from a baseline of 2.68 ± 0.72 (mean ± standard deviation) episodes per occupied bed per hour to 1.92 ± 1.35 in the follow-up period. In the MICU, episodes fell from 2.58 ± 0.95 (baseline) to 1.74 ± 0.69. In the MICU, the withdrawal of live observers was associated with a decrease in estimated episodes from 1.36 ± 0.49 at baseline to 1.01 ± 0.36, with a return to 1.16 ± 0.50 when the observers returned. In the SICU, a similar decrease did not persist throughout a period of feedback. Estimated hand washing correlated negatively with the patient-to-nurse ratio (r= -0.35 for the MICU,r= -0.46 for the SICU).Conclusions:Sustained feedback on hand washing failed to produce a sustained improvement. Live observers were associated with increased hand washing, even when they did not offer feedback. Hand washing decreased when the patient-to-nurse ratio increased.

2017 ◽  
Vol 74 (5) ◽  
pp. 851-856 ◽  
Author(s):  
James M. Tatum ◽  
Terris White ◽  
Christopher Kang ◽  
Eric J. Ley ◽  
Nicolas Melo ◽  
...  

2015 ◽  
Vol 72 (10) ◽  
pp. 883-888 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jovan Mladenovic ◽  
Milic Veljovic ◽  
Ivo Udovicic ◽  
Srdjan Lazic ◽  
Zeljko Jadranin ◽  
...  

Background/Aim. Because patients in intensive care units usually have an urinary catheter, the risk of urinary tract infection for these patients is higher than in other patients. The aim of this study was to identify risk factors and causative microrganisms in patients with catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI) in the Surgical Intensive Care Unit (SICU) during a 6-year period. Methods. All data were collected during prospective surveillance conducted from 2006 to 2011 in the SICU, Military Medical Academy, Belgrade, Serbia. This case control study was performed in patients with nosocomial infections recorded during surveillance. The cases with CAUTIs were identified using the definition of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The control group consisted of patients with other nosocomial infections who did not fulfill criteria for CAUTIs according to case definition. Results. We surveyed 1,369 patients representing 13,761 patient days. There were a total of 226 patients with nosocomial infections in the SICU. Of these patients, 64 had CAUTIs as defined in this study, and 162 met the criteria for the control group. Multivariate logistic regression analysis identified two risk factors independently associated to CAUTIs: the duration of having an indwelling catheter (OR = 1.014; 95% CI 1.005-1.024; p = 0.003) and female gender (OR = 2.377; 95%CI 1.278-4.421; p = 0.006). Overall 71 pathogens were isolated from the urine culture of 64 patients with CAUTIs. Candida spp. (28.2%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (18.3%) and Klebsiella spp. (15.5%) were the most frequently isolated microorganisms. Conclusions. The risk factors and causative microrganisms considering CAUTIs in the SICU must be considered in of planning CAUTIs prevention in this setting.


1992 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 115-117 ◽  
Author(s):  
BC Friedman ◽  
W Boyce ◽  
CE Bekes

Critical care medicine programs must provide outpatient experience for their fellowship trainees. We have developed an unusual follow-up plan allowing critical care fellows to contact their patients months after their intensive care unit stay. We evaluated responses of 46 patients after a mean interval of 8.6 months since their initial intensive care unit stay. Patients were stratified by severity of disease by using the APACHE scoring system. Diagnostically, the patients represented the typical medical-surgical intensive care unit population. Patients were asked 11 questions concerning their health and socio-emotional status as it related to their hospitalization and intensive care unit stay. Our results established a practical method of providing outpatient follow-up that may fulfill residency review requirements for critical care fellowships, confirmed previously speculative ideas about ICU experiences, and suggested future research opportunities to study intensive care unit patients following discharge.


2017 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 10-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beth A. Steinberg ◽  
Maryanna Klatt ◽  
Anne-Marie Duchemin

Background Surgical intensive care unit personnel are exposed to catastrophic situations as they care for seriously injured or ill patients. Few interventions have been developed to reduce the negative effects of work stress in this environment. Objective This pilot study evaluated the feasibility of a workplace intervention for increasing resilience to stress. The intervention was implemented within the unique constraints characteristic of surgical intensive care units. Methods Participants were randomly assigned to an intervention or control group. The mindfulness-based intervention included meditation, mild yoga movement, and music and was conducted in a group format 1 hour a week for 8 weeks in a surgical intensive care unit during work hours. Assessments were performed 1 week before and 1 week after the intervention. Results The intervention was well received, with a 97% overall retention rate and 100% retention in the intervention group. Work satisfaction, measured with the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale, increased significantly in the intervention group with no change in the control group. Negative correlations were found between the vigor subscale scores of the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale and scores for emotional exhaustion on the Maslach Burnout Inventory and scores for burnout on the Professional Quality of Life scale. Participants rated recognizing their stress response as a main benefit of the intervention. Conclusion Workplace group interventions aimed at decreasing the negative effects of stress can be applied within hospital intensive care units. Despite many constraints, attendance at weekly sessions was high. Institutional support was critical for implementation of this program.


Heart & Lung ◽  
1995 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 76-78 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph F. Dasta ◽  
Thomas M. Fuhrman ◽  
Cynthia McCandles

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-108
Author(s):  
Kah Wei Tan ◽  
Hwee Kuan Ong ◽  
Un Sam Mok

Introduction: During resuscitations, healthcare professionals (HCPs) find balancing the need for timely resuscitation and adherence to infection prevention (IP) measures difficult. This study explored the effects of an innovative teaching method, using in-situ simulation and inter-professional education to enhance compliance to IP through better inter-professional collaboration. Methods: The study was conducted in the Surgical Intensive Care Unit (SICU) in a 1200-beds teaching hospital. HCPs working in the SICU were conveniently allocated to the intervention or control group based on their work roster. The intervention group attended an in-situ simulated scenario on managing cardiac arrest in an infectious patient. The control group completed the standard institution-wide infection control eLearning module. Outcomes measured were: (a) attitudes towards inter-professional teamwork [TeamSTEPPS Teamwork Attitudes Questionnaire (TAQ)], (b) infection prevention knowledge test, (c) self-evaluated confidence in dealing with infectious patients and (d) intensive care unit (ICU) audits on infection prevention compliance during actual resuscitations. Results: 40 HCPs were recruited. 29 responded (71%) to the pre- and post-workshop questionnaires. There were no significant differences in the TeamSTEPPS TAQ and infection prevention knowledge score between the groups. However, ICU audits demonstrated a 60% improvement in IP compliance for endotracheal tube insertion and 50% improvement in parenteral medication administration. This may be attributed to the debriefing session where IP staff shared useful tips on compliance to IP measures during resuscitation and identified threats that could deter IP compliance in SICU. Conclusion: Learning infection prevention through simulated inter-professional education (IPE) workshops may lead to increased IP compliance in clinical settings.


1993 ◽  
Vol 110 (3) ◽  
pp. 427-436 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Döring ◽  
M. Hörz ◽  
J. Ortelt ◽  
H. Grupp ◽  
C. Wolz

SUMMARYGenotyping was used to analysePseudomonas aeruginosaisolates from sink drains and 15 intubated patients as part of a 3-month prospective study of strain transmission in a medical-surgical intensive care unit. Ninety percent of all washbasin drains were persistently contaminated with severalP. aeruginosagenotypes. In 60% (9/15) of the patients,P. aeruginosacolonization or infection was hospital-acquired:P. aeruginosastrains isolated from these patients were present in hospital sinks or in other patients before their admission. Since all patients were immobile, personnel were the probable route of transmission ofP. aeruginosain the hospital. The mechanism of strain transmission from sinks to hands during hand washing was investigated in a children's hospital. WhenP. aeruginosawas present at densities of > 105/c.f.u. per ml in sink drains, hand washing resulted in hand contamination withP. aeruginosavia aerosol generation in the majority of experiments orP. aeruginosawas detected using an air sampler above the washing basin. HighP. aeruginosacfu were present at 4.30 h in the eight sinks (5.4 × 105−7.0 × 1010c.f.u./ml), whereas at 13.00 hP. aeruginosac.f.u. were significantly lower (3.1 × 102−8.0 × 105c.f.u. / ml). These data reveal that the danger of bacterial contamination of hands during hand washing is highest in the morning. The identified transmission routes demand more effective hygienic measures in hospital settings particularly concerning personnel hands and sink drains.


2001 ◽  
Vol 22 (7) ◽  
pp. 433-436 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sunmi Yoo ◽  
Mina Ha ◽  
Daeok Choi ◽  
Hyunjoo Pai

AbstractObjective:To determine whether surveillance and infection control interventions decrease the incidence of catheter-related (CR) bloodstream infections (BSIs) in Korea.Setting:A medical-surgical intensive care unit (ICU) of a university hospital in Korea.Design:The CR infection rate of the intervention period was compared to that of historical controls for a 4-month period.Patients:All patients with a central venous catheter in the intensive care unit (ICU) from October 1998 to January 1999.Methods:Active infection control programs were initiated during the intervention period. Data collected included patient characteristics, risk factors of CR infection, and the microbiology laboratory results. Laboratory-proven CR infection rates were compared between the intervention group and control group.Results:304 catheters were inserted into 248 patients. The intervention group and the control group showed similar characteristics, but more patients in the intervention group received steroid therapy, and subclavian insertion was more common in the intervention group. CR BSI occurred in 1.3 per 1,000 catheter-days in the intervention group and 4.2 in the control group (binomial test, P=.14). CR infections were associated with the duration of ICU admission by multivariate logistic regression.Conclusions:The data suggested that an active infection surveillance and control program could reduce the rate of CR BSI in an ICU.


2018 ◽  
Vol 19 ◽  
pp. e26
Author(s):  
M. Colombino ◽  
A. Longobardi ◽  
A. Panza ◽  
G. Mastrogiovanni ◽  
P. Masiello ◽  
...  

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