Infection control strategies for healthcare workers during COVID-19 pandemic in German hospitals: A cross-sectional study in march-april 2021.
Health personnel
Infodemic
Nosocomial infection
Personal protective equipment
Prevention
Journal
Heliyon
ISSN: 2405-8440
Titre abrégé: Heliyon
Pays: England
ID NLM: 101672560
Informations de publication
Date de publication:
Mar 2023
Mar 2023
Historique:
received:
18
10
2022
revised:
13
03
2023
accepted:
14
03
2023
entrez:
22
3
2023
pubmed:
23
3
2023
medline:
23
3
2023
Statut:
ppublish
Résumé
Healthcare workers (HCW) are at risk of getting infected with COVID-19 at work. To prevent such incidents and provide a safe environment in hospitals, comprehensive infection control strategies are necessary. We aimed to collect information on COVID-19 infection control strategies regarding personal protective equipment (PPE), regulations during breaks for HCW and dissemination of pandemic-related information. We invited infection control practitioners from 987 randomly selected German hospitals in March-April 2021 to participate in our cross-sectional online survey. We categorized the hospital based on bed capacity (≤499 beds = small; ≥500 beds = large). Fisher's exact test was performed and 100 participants completed the questionnaire. Small hospitals were more directive about requiring FFP2 respirators (63%), whereas larger hospitals more often gave their HCW a choice between these and medical masks (67%). For the care of COVID-19 and suspected COVID-19 cases, >90% of the participants recommended the use of gloves. Notably, gloves were recommended beyond COVID-19 in 30% of the hospitals. During meal breaks various strategies were followed. Recommendations for PPE varied across hospital sizes, which could be due to different assessments of necessity and safety. Regulations during breaks varied strongly which illustrates the need for clear official guidelines.
Sections du résumé
Background
UNASSIGNED
Healthcare workers (HCW) are at risk of getting infected with COVID-19 at work. To prevent such incidents and provide a safe environment in hospitals, comprehensive infection control strategies are necessary. We aimed to collect information on COVID-19 infection control strategies regarding personal protective equipment (PPE), regulations during breaks for HCW and dissemination of pandemic-related information.
Methods
UNASSIGNED
We invited infection control practitioners from 987 randomly selected German hospitals in March-April 2021 to participate in our cross-sectional online survey. We categorized the hospital based on bed capacity (≤499 beds = small; ≥500 beds = large). Fisher's exact test was performed and
Findings
UNASSIGNED
100 participants completed the questionnaire. Small hospitals were more directive about requiring FFP2 respirators (63%), whereas larger hospitals more often gave their HCW a choice between these and medical masks (67%). For the care of COVID-19 and suspected COVID-19 cases, >90% of the participants recommended the use of gloves. Notably, gloves were recommended beyond COVID-19 in 30% of the hospitals. During meal breaks various strategies were followed.
Conclusion
UNASSIGNED
Recommendations for PPE varied across hospital sizes, which could be due to different assessments of necessity and safety. Regulations during breaks varied strongly which illustrates the need for clear official guidelines.
Identifiants
pubmed: 36945349
doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e14658
pii: S2405-8440(23)01865-0
pmc: PMC10022461
doi:
Types de publication
Journal Article
Langues
eng
Pagination
e14658Informations de copyright
© 2023 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
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