Decreasing Urinary Tract Infections Through Staff Development, Outcomes, and Nursing Process

The contribution of medical educational system of the College of Medicine, and Health Sciences of the University of Gondar in Ethiopia on the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of graduate students of Health Sciences in relation to the prevention and control of nosocomial infections during the academic year of 2018

BACKGROUND

Nosocomial infection, also called a hospital-acquired infection, is an infection acquired during admitting patients in health care facilities. Nosocomial infection can be prevented and controlled by giving training to those responsible. This study aimed to assess the contribution of the medical education system on the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of the graduate students of health sciences about the prevention and control of nosocomial infection in the College of Medicine and Health Sciences at the University of Gondar in the Academic Year of 2018.

METHOD

An institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted among all graduate health science students posted in the different departments at the University of Gondar in the College of Medicine and Health Sciences from February to June 2018. A total of 422 study participants were included. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 20.

RESULTS

Out of a total of 422 respondents, only 40% have taken training for infection prevention; out of which 39% had taken the training for a year ago. Moreover, only 35.5% have good knowledge of nosocomial infections as a result of the training; and only 32.5% have good understanding of the practical training given on prevention and control. Only 36% have good attitude towards its prevention and control.

CONCLUSION

The result shows that only a few of the respondents have taken the infection prevention training. Yet, a smaller proportion of them had good knowledge, attitude, and practice on nosocomial infections. Hence, the Medical Education System should give more attention to the training of the nosocomial infection control by developing different strategies to prepare the students on these issues before they start their clinical attachment.

External Collection Devices as an Alternative to the Indwelling Urinary Catheter: Evidence-Based Review and Expert Clinical Panel Deliberations

Multiple evidence-based guidelines have suggested clinicians consider external collection devices (ECD) as alternatives to indwelling catheters. Nevertheless, there is a dearth of evidence-based resources concerning their use. An expert consensus panel was convened to review the current state of the evidence, indications for ECDs as an alternative to an indwelling urinary catheter, identify knowledge gaps, and areas for future research. This article presents the results of the expert consensus panel meeting and a systematic literature review regarding ECD use in the clinical setting.

Review: how do hospital organizational structure and processes affect quality of care?: a critical review of research methods

Interest in organizational contributions to the delivery of care has risen significantly in recent years. A challenge facing researchers, practitioners, and policy makers is identifying ways to improve care by improving the organizations that provide this care, given the complexity of health care organizations and the role organizations play in influencing systems of care. This article reviews the literature on the relationship between the structural characteristics and organizational processes of hospitals and quality of care. The review uses Donabedian's structure-process-outcome and level of analysis frameworks to organize the literature. The results of this review indicate that a preponderance of studies are conducted at the hospital level of analysis and are predominantly focused on the organizational structure-quality outcome relationship. The article concludes with recommendations of how health services researchers can expand their research to enhance one's understanding of the relationship between organizational characteristics and quality of care.

Creating infrastructure supportive of evidence-based nursing practice: leadership strategies

BACKGROUND

Nursing leadership is the cornerstone of successful evidence-based practice (EBP) programs within health care organizations. The key to success is a strategic approach to building an EBP infrastructure, with allocation of appropriate human and material resources.

PURPOSE

This article indicates the organizational infrastructure that enables evidence-based nursing practice and strategies for leaders to enhance evidence-based practice using "the conceptual model for considering the determinants of diffusion, dissemination, and implementation of innovations in health service delivery and organization."

DISCUSSION

Enabling EBP within organizations is important for promoting positive outcomes for nurses and patients. Fostering EBP is not a static or immediate outcome, but a long-term developmental process within organizations. Implementation requires multiple strategies to cultivate a culture of inquiry where nurses generate and answer important questions to guide practice.

IMPLICATIONS

Organizations that can enable the culture and build infrastructure to help nurses develop EBP competencies will produce a professional environment that will result in both personal growth for their staff and improvements in quality that would not otherwise be possible.