scholarly journals Human Factors Considerations in Using Personal Protective Equipment in the COVID-19 Pandemic Context: A Multinational Survey Study (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Avi Parush ◽  
Oren Wacht ◽  
Ricardo Gomes ◽  
Amit Frenkel
Keyword(s):  
Factor Analysis ◽  
Human Factors ◽  
Personal Protective Equipment ◽  
Situational Awareness ◽  
Survey Study ◽  
Protective Equipment ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Level 1 ◽  
Contamination Levels ◽  
Effective Use

BACKGROUND Full personal protective equipment (level 1 PPE) is used in various domains and contexts. Prior research has shown positive influences of such equipment on performance, comfort, and contamination levels. The COVID-19 pandemic forced a pervasive requirement of PPE, with little preparation, rushed deployment, inadequate time for training, and massive use by personnel who are inexperienced or not qualified in its effective use. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to examine the key human factors: physical and ergonomic, perceptual and cognitive, that influence the use of level 1 PPE when attending to suspected or confirmed COVID-19 patients. METHODS The research approach consisted of a short survey disseminated to healthcare professionals in two countries, Israel and Portugal, with similar demographics and healthcare systems. The survey included 10 items with a 5-point Likert Scale, regarding the key human factors involved in level 1 PPE, as identified in prior research. RESULTS A total of 722 respondents from Israel and 301 respondents from Portugal were included in the analysis. All the respondents reported using level 1 PPE with COVID-19 patients in the range of several hours daily to several hours weekly. Cronbach’s alpha was .73 for Israel, and .75 for Portugal. Responses showed high levels of difficulty, with medians of 4 for items related to discomfort, hearing and seeing, and doffing. A factor analysis conducted with the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin test result for sampling adequacy yielded 0.75 for the Israeli sample and .77 for the Portuguese sample. This indicates suitability of the data for factor analysis. The analysis showed a strong primary factor including difficulties in hearing, understanding speech, and understanding the surroundings, all with factor loadings higher than .6. A subsequent mediation analysis showed an association of PPE discomfort with situational awareness (P<.01), but this association was mediated by difficulties in hearing and understanding speech, which reflect difficulties in communication. CONCLUSIONS In 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic is paving the way for updating PPE design. The use of already deployed technology affords ample opportunities to improve, adapt, and overcome caveats. The findings here suggest that the use of level 1 PPE with COVID-19 patients has perceptual and cognitive effects, in addition to physical and ergonomic influences. Efforts should be taken to mitigate harmful effects of such influences, both regarding the performance of medical actions and the risk of contamination to healthcare workers. Such efforts involve the design of PPE, training staff in using the equipment, and effective communication and teamwork protocols.

scholarly journals Visitor Restriction Policy on Pediatric Wards During Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Outbreak: A Survey Study Across North America

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Taito Kitano ◽  
Pierre-Philippe Piché-Renaud ◽  
Helen E Groves ◽  
Laurie Streitenberger ◽  
Renee Freeman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Personal Protective Equipment ◽  
Survey Study ◽  
Protective Equipment ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Restriction Policy ◽  
Novel Coronavirus

Abstract Visitor restriction policies in pediatric wards during the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak are variable. Among 36 hospitals that responded to our survey, 97% allowed at least 1 visitor, with 67% restricting to 1 caregiver. Sixty-nine percent required the visitor to wear personal protective equipment and only 19% allowed non-household visitors.

scholarly journals A Descriptive Study to Assess the Knowledge and Practice on Personal Protective Equipment among Student Nurses in a Selected College of Nursing, New Delhi

2020 ◽  
Vol 07 (04) ◽  
pp. 8-12
Author(s):  
Uzma Anjum ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Personal Protective Equipment ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Good Practice ◽  
Student Nurses ◽  
Sampling Technique ◽  
Protective Equipment ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
New Delhi ◽  
Knowledge And Practice ◽  
College Of Nursing

Personal Protective equipment is also called PPE. It is commonly worn by health care workers to prevent the transmission of infection. PPE includes helmets or caps, face shields, face masks, goggles, gowns, respirators, shoe covers or boots and gloves. These protective coverings will be effective when it is being used in an appropriate manner. The main objectives of this study were to assess the knowledge and practice on Personal Protective Equipment among student nurses. A Quantitative Research approach along with Descriptive Research design was used. A total of 110 student nurses were selected through Convenient Sampling Technique from DGNM 3rd Year, B.Sc. (Hons.) Nursing 2nd Year and B.Sc. (Hons.) Nursing 4th Year of Rufaida College of Nursing, Jamia Hamdard, New Delhi in the month of July-August 2020. Structured Questionnaire was used via an online platform (Google forms) due to Covid 19 lockdown to assess the knowledge and practice on PPE. Out of 110 samples, 66 (60%) had good knowledge, followed by 44 (40%) having average knowledge and none were having poor knowledge on PPE, whereas 67 (60.9%) had an average practice, followed by 41 (37.3%) having good practice and only 2 (1.8%) had poor practice on PPE. Findings suggest that there is a need for practice-based knowledge assessment in clinical areas and thus improvement in the practice of PPE while working in hospitals.

scholarly journals Self-Contamination While Doffing Personal Protective Equipment

2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (S1) ◽  
pp. s385-s386
Author(s):  
Jaqueline Pereira da Silva ◽  
Priyadarshini Pennathur ◽  
Hugh Salehi ◽  
Emily Chasco ◽  
Jure Baloh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Human Factors ◽  
Personal Protective Equipment ◽  
Demographic Data ◽  
Protective Equipment ◽  
Human Factors Engineering ◽  
Academic Hospital ◽  
Training Video ◽  
Exposed Skin ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Trained Staff

Background: Personal protective equipment (PPE) effectiveness can be undermined by inappropriate doffing methods. Objective: We used human factors engineering methods to evaluate self-contamination during PPE doffing. Methods: In this study, 30 participants at a Midwestern academic hospital (A) donned and doffed 3 mask styles (n = 10), 2 gown styles (n = 10), and 2 glove styles (n = 10; the Doffy glove has a tab to facilitate doffing). Also, 30 additional participants at hospital A (residents or fellows, nurses, special isolation trained staff [SITS]) and 10 SITS at academic hospital B doffed a surgical mask, a breakaway neck gown, and exam gloves (PPE ensemble) twice: once while distracted with conversation and once when not distracted. We randomized the order in which participants used different PPE styles or they did the doffing scenario. We collected demographic data. We applied Glo Germ Mist (1.5 dilution in water) with a mucosal atomizer to participants’ PPE before they doffed. We video-recorded participants as they doffed, and we photographed their scrubs and exposed skin before and after each donning and doffing episode. We reviewed videos for doffing errors and photographs for fluorescent spots. We counted fluorescent spots and noted their locations. Results: Overall, 45 (64.3%) participants were women, 31 (44.3%) were nurses, 24 (34.3%) were physicians. Among the participants, 25 (35.7%) had >15 years of experience and 61 (87.1%) had some training in doffing. Participants frequently contaminated their skin or clothing while doffing (Table 1). For all scenarios, hands followed by the torso were contaminated most frequently. Analysis of the videos found that touching the gown front with bare hands was the most common doffing error. Fewer participants self-contaminated when using the Doffy glove without training than when using the standard exam glove. Although most participants in the glove trial indicated that they did not need to watch the Doffy glove training video again, most had difficulty doffing the Doffy glove with the beak method. Many participants stopped doffing to answer questions when they doffed the PPE ensemble during the interruption scenario. Conclusions: Self-contamination was very common with all PPE styles and during all scenarios. Distraction did not increase the risk of contamination. However, participants often stopped doffing to answer questions, which they rarely do in practice. Watching a video was inadequate training for the beak glove-doffing method. The Doffy glove, which decreased contamination compared with the standard glove in the untrained scenario, may have advantages over standard exam gloves and should be evaluated further.Funding: NoneDisclosures: None

scholarly journals Hand Hygiene and Personal Protective Equipment in Healthcare Settings During COVID-19 Pandemic in Bangladesh

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 69-75
Author(s):  
Md Rezaul Karim ◽  
Sushil Kumar Sah ◽  
Afsarunnesa Syeda ◽  
Muhammad Tanvir Faysol ◽  
Aminur Rahman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Hand Hygiene ◽  
Personal Protective Equipment ◽  
Healthcare Workers ◽  
Healthcare Facility ◽  
Survey Study ◽  
Protective Equipment ◽  
Protective Measures ◽  
Healthcare Settings ◽  
Mandatory Training ◽  
Before And After

Objective: This study conducted to implement protective measures in healthcare settings during theCOVID-19 pandemic in the context of Bangladesh. Methods: It is an observational survey study. A pre-designed open questionnaire electronic linkusing google form was used to collect data from 500 healthcare workers within Bangladesh in whichparticipants were observed, and variables were measured. Results: The study findings revealed that among all participants, 70.9% were working in COVID-19dedicated hospitals, and 1.8% were diagnosed with COVID-19 while working. The study showed that69.1% of participants washed hands before and after consulting/handling each patient, 69.1% hadreadily available rubs/sanitizer in their healthcare facility, and 65.5% adhered principals ofhandwashing. The study also revealed that only 76.4% of participants maintained aseptic precautionsfor donning/doffing. Conclusion: The study findings recommend that mandatory training and maintaining asepticprecautions for PPE putting on (donning), and removal (doffing) is equally important. Bangladesh J Medicine July 2020; 31(2) :69-75

Personal Protective Equipment for Infectious Disease Preparedness: A Human Factors Evaluation

2016 ◽  
Vol 37 (9) ◽  
pp. 1022-1028 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tracey A. Herlihey ◽  
Stefano Gelmi ◽  
Christopher J. Flewwelling ◽  
Trevor N. T. Hall ◽  
Carleene Bañez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Human Factors ◽  
Personal Protective Equipment ◽  
Instructional Material ◽  
Complete System ◽  
Complete Solution ◽  
Ease Of Use ◽  
Protective Equipment ◽  
Constructivist Approach ◽  
Pediatric Hospital ◽  
Mixed Methods Approach

OBJECTIVETo identify issues during donning and doffing of personal protective equipment (PPE) for infectious diseases and to inform PPE procurement criteria and design.DESIGNA mixed methods approach was used. Usability testing assessed the appropriateness, potential for errors, and ease of use of various combinations of PPE. A qualitative constructivist approach was used to analyze participant feedback.SETTINGFour academic health sciences centers: 2 adult hospitals, 1 trauma center, and 1 pediatric hospital, in Toronto, Canada.PARTICIPANTSParticipants (n=82) were representative of the potential users of PPE within Western healthcare institutions.RESULTSNone of the tested combinations provided a complete solution for PPE. Environmental factors, such as anteroom layout, and the design of protocols and instructional material were also found to impact safety. The study identified the need to design PPE as a complete system, rather than mixing and matching components.CONCLUSIONSHealthcare institutions are encouraged to use human factors methods to identify risk and failure points with the usage of their selected PPE, and to modify on the basis of iterative evaluations with representative end users. Manufacturers of PPE should consider usability when designing the next generation of PPE.Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol2016;37:1022–1028

scholarly journals 950 A Close Loop Audit to Assess Awareness Among Non-Consultant Hospital Doctors Re Use of Personal Protective Equipment

2021 ◽  
Vol 108 (Supplement_6) ◽  
Author(s):  
K Amin ◽  
M Fahad Ullah ◽  
E Hannon ◽  
G Feaney ◽  
J Khan
Keyword(s):  
Personal Protective Equipment ◽  
Healthcare Workers ◽  
University Hospital ◽  
Protective Equipment ◽  
Age Group ◽  
Educational Session ◽  
Hospital Doctors ◽  
Limited Supply ◽  
Two Phases ◽  
Effective Use

Abstract Introduction Personal protective equipments (PPEs) are like war uniforms in the fight against Corona Pandemic. The limited supply of PPEs warrant their proper use not only to avoid shortage of supplies but also to prevent any infectious spread to healthcare workers. This study aimed at analyzing awareness among non-consultant hospital doctors re proper use of PPEs Method A questionnaire was devised using local available guidelines published by university Hospital Limerick. The study was done in 2 phases. In 1st phase 100 questionnaires were distributed to non-consultant hospital doctors(NCHDs). Results were analysed and after 1st phase and emails were sent with results and local guidelines and a zoom educational session was organized. In 2nd phase, questionnaire was redistributed in a week's time and results were re analysed to close the loop. Results 200 NCHDs participated in the study,100 in each phase. Most common age group in two phases was 21-30 yrs. Awareness about PPEs use for Covid 19 increased significantly in 2nd phase across all domains (what is included in PPEs (100% from 91%), Sequence for putting on PPEs (52% to 88% p &lt; 0.05), steps for FIT test (57% to 74% p = 0.247) and sequence for removing PPEs (47% to 81% p &lt; 0.05). Conclusions Though PPEs donning and doffing sessions were organized by the hospital officially, Awareness about effective use of PPEs among NCHDs further improved after organizing a Zoom educational session and auditing.

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