Barriers and solutions regarding to infection prevention and control practices in the intensive care units: A qualitative study
AIM: We aimed to identify the barriers to compliance with infection prevention and control (IPC) measures and gather solutions by interviewing health care workers (HCWs) in intensive care units (ICUs). BACKGROUND: In the European Union, 33,000 deaths occur annually due to antibiotic-resistant infect...
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Elsevier
2024-12-01
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| Series: | Journal of Global Antimicrobial Resistance |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2213716524003114 |
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| Summary: | AIM: We aimed to identify the barriers to compliance with infection prevention and control (IPC) measures and gather solutions by interviewing health care workers (HCWs) in intensive care units (ICUs). BACKGROUND: In the European Union, 33,000 deaths occur annually due to antibiotic-resistant infections. More than 70% of these antibiotic-resistant infections are directly related to healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). The implementation of IPC measures is critical in ICUs, where the risk of transmission of these resistant bacteria is highest. However, the compliance rate of HCWs with IPC is not the desired levels. METHODS: In-depth interviews were conducted with 20 HCWs (Table 1) in five tertiary hospitals in Istanbul between 1 March and 31 May 2024. A purposive sampling method was used to include at least three HCWs from each hospital. The conceptual framework of the semi-structured interview guide was based on the Health Belief Model. RESULTS: Many HCWs (13/20) believed that the activities of infection control committees (13/20) and IPC training programmes (6/15) were not sufficient to increase compliance with IPC measures. A majority (14/18) of HCWs believe that financial sanctions would be an effective tool to increase compliance with IPC measures. The barriers and solutions of HCWs in ICUs that make compliance with IPC measures difficult are detailed in Table 2. CONCLUSIONS: According to HCWs, increased workload, structural issues, and inefficient training modules were identified as the main IPC barriers. Qualitative research conducted with HCWs can guide us in identifying areas to focus on when planning IPC implementations. |
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| ISSN: | 2213-7165 |