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Burdens of infection control on healthcare workers: a scoping review
R Ungar1, R Gur-Arie2, G S Heriot3
1Melbourne Medical School, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia.
Insights
Healthcare workers (HCWs) face burdens like skin issues and time pressure, impacting compliance with infection prevention and control (IPC) policies. Addressing these burdens is key to improving patient safety and reducing hospital-acquired infections (HAIs).
Area of Science:
- Healthcare Management
- Infection Prevention and Control
- Occupational Health
Background:
- Hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) present significant patient risks.
- Compliance with infection prevention and control (IPC) policies is often suboptimal.
- The burden on healthcare workers (HCWs) is an under-recognized barrier to IPC compliance.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify and understand the burdens associated with IPC compliance for HCWs.
Main Methods:
- Systematic literature search of PubMed and CINAHL for studies since 2000.
- Inclusion of studies in English focusing on IPC compliance and associated burdens.
- Screening of 1018 initial results, with 25 articles selected for final review.
Main Results:
- Identified burdens include dermatological issues, headaches, sensory symptoms, and time pressure.
- Existing tools for measuring IPC compliance have limitations and often neglect worker burdens.
- A strong safety culture positively correlated with compliance; knowledge of IPC rationale showed a non-linear relationship.
Conclusions:
- Further research is needed to fully characterize IPC-related burdens.
- Strategies to minimize these burdens should be developed to enhance HCW compliance.
- Improving IPC compliance is crucial for mitigating HAIs and enhancing patient safety.
Introduction:
Hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) pose a significant risk to patients, and are a major focus of infection prevention and control policies (IPC). One under-recognized reason for the generally poor compliance with IPC is that it is burdensome for healthcare workers (HCWs).
Aim:
To identify the burdens of IPC for HCWs.
Methods:
PubMed and CINAHL were searched for studies published in English since 2000 regarding compliance with IPC and the burdens associated with compliance. After screening 1018 initial results, 25 articles were included in the final review.
Results:
Evidence was found for burdens including dermatological complications, headaches, sensory symptoms and time pressure. Tools designed to measure compliance with IPC have limitations, and rarely assess the burdens of compliance. A strong safety culture predicted positive compliance, while knowledge of the underlying rationale for IPC had a non-linear relationship with compliance.
Conclusion:
Future research should clarify IPC-related burdens and how these may be minimized to achieve better compliance.
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