Abstract
Even though in the corporate world psychological science has been widely used, the formal use of evidence-based psychology in important areas of clinical medicine has been scanty at best. It was the aim of this study to determine the efficacy of a psychologist-led 2-week nurse educator training on the infection rate in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).Materials and methods: In 2007, six senior neonatal nurses underwent a training course focusing on the retrieval of evidence and knowledge of psychological principles that would allow them to share the evidence in such a way that evidence is effectively brought into practice. The course was led by a psychologist. The nurses created and delivered their own teaching modules, all focused on infection control. The rates of bacteremia, 2 years prior to intervention were analyzed and compared with the rate following the intervention for 3 years.Results: The immediate output of the course included three teaching modules: hand washing, sterile procedures, and general measures to control infection. These modules were subsequently administered to the NICU nurses in regular structured continuous nursing education sessions. The psychological techniques taught in the course were applied. Bacteremia in the NICU significantly decreased in the year of the course and the subsequent years when compared to previous years (from more than 17 in 2005 and 2006 to less than 10 per 100 admissions to the NICU in 2008 and 2009).Conclusion: This study suggests that a psychologist-led course, followed by a structured CNE can lead to a sustainable reduction in infection rates in a NICU.
Highlights
Psychological techniques have been widely used in the corporate world, but reports of formal integration of psychological knowledge into clinical practice and management have been scanty at best
Results:The immediate output of the course included three teaching modules: hand washing, sterile procedures, and general measures to control infection. These modules were subsequently administered to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) nurses in regular structured continuous nursing education sessions
Bacteremia in the NICU significantly decreased in the year of the course and the subsequent years when compared to previous years
Summary
Psychological techniques have been widely used in the corporate world, but reports of formal integration of psychological knowledge into clinical practice and management have been scanty at best. We report an initiative that aimed at the use of established psychological techniques to control the infection rate in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). In many low and middle income countries, including Malaysia, the outcomes for very low birth babies (VLBW) are not as good as in developed nations. Nosocomial infection is one major contributing factor to morbidity and mortality in the neonatal unit. Infection rates in several of the NICUs in Malaysia can be as high as 20–40% for the VLBW [1,2,3]. The infection rate for VLBW ranged from 6 to 62% and for extremely low birth weight (ELBW) from 2 to 36% babies, as evidenced by data collected by the Malaysian National Neonatal Registry (MNNR) in 2006
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