TITLE:
Healthcare Professionals’ Adherence to Contact Precautions at a Maternal and Child Teaching Hospital
AUTHORS:
Lucas Eduardo Luizão, Marli de Carvalho Jericó, Angela Silveira Gagliardo Calil, Viviane Decicera Colombo Oliveira, Alexandre Lins Werneck, Ingrid de Campos Truzzi, Eliana Ofelia Lapa Rodriguez, Maria Rita Rodrigues Vieira, Pedro Paulo de Carvalho Jericó
KEYWORDS:
Hospital Infection, Universal Precautions, Patient Safety, Pediatric Nursing, Isolation of Patients, Microbial Drug Resistance
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Nursing,
Vol.13 No.12,
December
21,
2023
ABSTRACT: Background: Healthcare-associated
infections affect hundreds of millions of patients worldwide. Children have
greater susceptibility to healthcare-associated infections due to the immaturity of
their immune system. Contact precautions aim to promote safety, protection and
prevention of contamination. Thus, the objective of this study was to
verify adherence to contact precaution measures, as well as compliance to the
use of personal protective equipment. Methods: This cross-sectional
observational study was carried out from July to October 2019 using a checklist
to evaluate health professionals’ adherence to hand hygiene procedures and the use
of gloves and surgical gowns when assisting children on contact precautions. Results:
A total of 941 observations were carried out in a total of 300.532 hours. Hand
hygiene was performed before and after contact with the patient in 58.84% and
75.09% of the cases, respectively and a surgical gown was used in 86.40% of the
cases. The use of gloves was the variable most adhered to by professionals
(87.57%). Intensive care unit professionals were the care workers who most
complied with the regulation regarding hand hygiene after contact with the
patient (p = 0.009) and the use of the surgical gown (p Conclusions: Adherence to hand hygiene before contact with the patient and compliance with
the hand hygiene technique were neglected by most professionals. However, there
was good adherence to the use of surgical gloves and gowns, as well as high
compliance to the techniques of removing these items.