Related Experiment Videos
Survey of isolation practices at a tertiary care pediatric hospital
Joseph V Vayalumkal1, Laurie Streitenberger, Rick Wray
1Division of Infectious Diseases, The Hospital For Sick Children, Toronto, Canada.
Insights
Hospital infection control is crucial. A study found 17% of pediatric patients were isolated, with only 74.6% appropriately. Targeted improvements in isolation precautions are needed to reduce healthcare-associated infections.
Area of Science:
- Infection Control
- Hospital Epidemiology
- Pediatric Healthcare
Background:
- Isolation precautions are vital for hospital infection control.
- Current pediatric isolation rates and compliance are largely unknown.
- Point prevalence studies are essential for assessing hospital-wide infection control practices.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine unit-specific patient isolation rates in a pediatric hospital.
- To assess compliance with established isolation precautions.
- To identify areas for improvement in infection control communication and personal protective equipment availability.
Main Methods:
- Prospective observational study design.
- Twice-monthly reviews of isolation status and appropriateness by infection control professionals.
- Data collection spanned 14 months (January 2004 - February 2005), excluding the psychiatry unit.
Main Results:
- Seventeen percent of hospitalized patients required isolation, primarily for community-acquired infections.
- Droplet precautions were the most frequently used isolation type.
- Overall appropriate isolation was achieved in 74.6% of cases, with highest non-compliance in transplantation and oncology units.
Conclusions:
- Community-acquired infections, especially respiratory ones, were the main drivers for isolation.
- Monitoring isolation appropriateness can decrease healthcare-related infection transmission.
- Identifying specific units with high rates of inappropriate isolation allows for targeted interventions.
Background:
Although isolation precautions are an important aspect of hospital infection control, current rates of isolation in a pediatric hospital and rates of compliance with established precautions are unknown. We therefore initiated hospital-wide point prevalence studies to determine unit-specific rates of patient isolation and compliance with proper isolation requirements focusing on communication of isolation status and availability of personal protective equipment. In this report, we present data from the first 14 months of the study.
Methods:
This was a prospective observational study. Twice monthly, between January 2004 and February 2005, infection control professionals reviewed the types and appropriateness of isolation of all hospitalized patients, except for those on the psychiatry unit.
Results:
Seventeen percent of patients in the hospital during the study period were isolated, most frequently for community-acquired infections. Droplet isolation precautions were the most common form of isolation. Overall, only 74.6% of patients were isolated appropriately. The solid organ transplantation, hematology/oncology, and bone marrow transplantation units were those with the highest rates of inappropriate isolation.
Conclusion:
At our hospital, community-acquired infections, in particular respiratory infections, were the most common reasons for patient isolation. Monitoring of the appropriateness of isolation precautions offers the opportunity to reduce health care-related transmission of infection and identify specific target areas for improvement.
Related Concept Videos
01:22Healthcare Associated Infections II: Preventive Measures
The best practices for preventing healthcare-associated infections include hand hygiene, patient risk...
01:26Standard Precaution
Hand hygiene is the most crucial means to prevent the transmission of disease. Employers are legally required to provide their workers with personal protective equipment (PPE) to minimize exposure or contact with...
01:25Transmission-based Precautions II: Airborne and Protective Environment
Airborne precautions:
Use airborne precautions when treating patients known or suspected to have diseases that spread through the air—for example, tuberculosis or measles. These organisms are present in smaller droplets expelled by an infected person and...
01:17Transmission-based Precautions I: Contact, Enteric, and Droplets
Contact Precautions:
Contact precautions are the measures taken to prevent the transmission of infectious agents, especially epidemiologically important microorganisms such as MRSA or influenza, primarily transmitted through direct or indirect contact with an...
01:28Asepsis
01:24Techniques for Isolation of Pure Cultures