Evidenced-based practice for control of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus

Evaluation of a national educational programme for healthcare workers on prevention and control of healthcare associated infections

This paper presents an overview of key findings from an evaluation of a national educational programme that aims to provide healthcare staff with the skills and knowledge necessary to ensure good practice in preventing healthcare associated infections. The research methods comprised literature review, large-scale questionnaire surveys of students and mentors on the Cleanliness Champions Programme, and 20 key-informant interviews. The educational programme was found to be fit for purpose, but there was a need for some restructuring and modifications. Nurses were found to comprise around two-thirds of all registrants on the programme. The study also provided some illumination of initial integration into practice. Cleanliness Champions typically reported substantial impact on their personal practice and many cited examples of influence on colleagues’ practice. However there is an urgent need to ensure that other occupational groups join with nursing by enrolling on the programme in much greater numbers. If this is accompanied by further investment, a critical mass may form that has sufficient multidisciplinary momentum to make good infection prevention and control practices more embedded clinical realities within Scotland. Key lessons from the evaluation are identified that may usefully inform similar initiatives and/or other national healthcare education programmes.

Australian Aboriginal peoples and evidence-based policies: closing the gap in social interventions

Australian Aboriginal people are some of the most researched people on earth, yet their life expectancy and other well-being indices lag significantly behind non-Aboriginal Australians. The reach of evidence-based practice (EBP) in social interventions has not yet informed Aboriginal policy even though it is based on clinical expertise and systematic research. This is due to criticism of the processes of EBP, most commonly its supposed limitations and misperceptions, which are easily refuted. EBP continues to be a tool that is needed to inform practice across all disciplines of human service, and needs to be the core value of any intervention with indigenous peoples.

Perioperative Management of Multidrug-Resistant Organisms in Health Care Settings

Guidelines for managing multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs) in health care settings were published by the Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee (HICPAC) in October 2006. These guidelines outline appropriate strategies to help prevent MDRO cross transmission. Perioperative nurses should be prepared to implement these strategies in an effort to protect their surgical patients from contracting MDRO infections. The HICPAC recommends elevating contact precautions to "intensified interventions" in facilities with endemic outbreaks of MDROs. Perioperative nurses should participate in these efforts by adhering to infection control practices, championing these practices with other health care personnel, and providing clinical support and leadership.