COVID-19 pandemic management at a hospital in Somalia: A qualitative study.

Amidst the chaos of COVID-19, health care practitioners are persistently providing services and experiencing many challenges. This study aimed to determine the perception of health care practitioners of government designated COVID-19 hospitals of Nepal towards the management of COVID-19 pandemic. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among the frontline health care practitioners working in the government designated COVID-19 hospitals in Nepal from 21st June, 2020 to 15th August, 2020. Ethical approval was obtained from the Ethical Review Board of the Nepal Health Research Council (Reference number: 347/2020 P). A total of 252 health care practitioners (doctors, nurses, and paramedics) working at the forefront in the emergency ward, general wards, intensive care units, isolation centers, fever clinics, laboratory, quarantine centers, help desks, etc. in the designated hospitals who consented to participate were included in the study. Convenience sampling was used. The data was analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 16.0. Point estimate at 95% confidence interval was calculated along with frequency and proportion for binary data. Only 41 (16.3%) (11.73-20.86 at 95% Confidence Interval) of the health care practitioners were found to have satisfactory perception towards the management of COVID-19 pandemic in Nepal. The satisfactory perception of the health care practitioners in our study towards the management of COVID-19 pandemic in Nepal is lower as compared to the other studies in Nepal and abroad.

BackgroundHealthcare providers, particularly nurses, are at risk of infection as part of the COVID-19 pandemic since they assist in the disease's containment. By recognising the risk factors for infection and implementing suitable measures to reduce these risks, all reasonable efforts should be taken to control the spread of infection to them. The aim of the present study was to determine the level of infection prevention and control practises used by primary healthcare nurses in Saudi Arabia during the COVID-19 pandemic. Materials and methodsCross-sectional design to examine the preventive practices of COVID-19 among healthcare professionals and community health nurses (n = 198) who worked in primary healthcare facilities in southwest Riyadh. Staff were randomly recruited, and a self-administered questionnaire was employed to collect demographic data, sources of COVID-19 information, and COVID-19 infection prevention and control measures. ResultsMost of participants were male (57.6%), aged 30_39 years (50.5%), married (61.6), with monthly income of more than10,000 SAR, and more than half (74.0%) of the participants hold a diploma degree. Social media was the most prevalent source of information about COVID-19 (69.25%). About 91.4% used facemask in crowds and 65.2% of the participants wore medical Personal Protective Equipment during prescribing drugs. Furthermore, 94.5% of the participants wore a simple facemask and 32.8% washed their hands with running water and handwashing liquid. Females were most users of gloves and simple mask; who had a monthly income of 5000 SAR or more were the most who wore goggle mask and apron; non-nurse staff, aged 40_49 years and who had more than 10 years of experience were the most users of N95 respirator; while nurses, aged 30_39 years and with 6_10 years of experience were the most who used gowns. Participants' age, income, and work experience were all found to be important factors linked with COVID-19 infection prevention and control practices. ConclusionOverall practicing preventive measures by Healthcare professionals in Saudi primary healthcare centres to encounter COVID-19 pandemic were generally significant. Policymakers at the Ministry of Health should monitor preventive practises regarding COVID-19 infection among all healthcare providers in other facilities. It is recommended to conduct systematic reviews and amend current guidelines for preventive practices in the COVID-19 pandemic to promote maximum state among population.

Background Infection prevention and control practice (IPCP) is essential for healthcare safety and quality service delivery. The Ethiopian government has already put in place programs and initiatives for clean and safe healthcare facilities. However, in the North Showa Zone of the Oromiya Region, the infection prevention and control practice level was not well understood. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practice of infection prevention and control practice among the health workforce (HWF) in North Shoa healthcare facilities (NSHCFs) environment. Methods Healthcare facility-based cross-sectional study design was employed. Structured and pretested self-administered questionnaires were distributed for 373 health workforce. Three hospitals and six health centers were randomly selected, and the study participants were selected by systematic sampling technique. Data were entered into Epi-data version 3.5.2 and then exported to SPSS version 23 for analysis. Multivariable logistic regression was performed to determine the associated factors with infection prevention practice, and a p value of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results A total of 361 (96.8%) health workforce responded to self-administered questionnaires. About 55.70% of study participants had good knowledge, 59.3% of them had a positive attitude, and 46.8% had a good infection prevention practice. Age category of 20–29(AOR = 4.08, 95%, CI = (1.97, 8.49)), female participants (AOR = 3.87, 95%, CI = (1.91, 7.86)), single participants (AOR = 3.89, 95%, CI = (1.92, 7.87)), having greater than ten years of working experience (AOR = 3.10, 95% CI = (1.19, 8.10)), positive attitude (AOR = 10.07, 95% CI = (4.82, 21.05)), and availability of water at working area (AOR = 2.27, 95% CI = (1.18, 4.35)) were significantly associated with good infection prevention practice. Conclusion In this study, a significant number of health workers had low knowledge, negative attitudes, and poor infection prevention practices. Female participants, higher work experience, a positive attitude, and water availability in the healthcare facilities were positively associated with infection prevention and control practice. Healthcare facilities should be continued capacitating the health workforce on infection prevention and control measures and equipping health facilities with infection prevention materials.

Objectives:Effective adherence to infection prevention and control practices is needed to reduce the rate of healthcare-acquired infections among healthcare workers. Policies to control healthcare-acquired infections among healthcare workers can be designed and implemented using information on adherence to infection prevention and control practices adherence and its determinants. This study, therefore, sought to assess the adherence to infection prevention and control practices among healthcare workers during the 2019 Coronavirus disease pandemic.Methods:A multicentre cross-sectional study was conducted among 323 randomly selected healthcare workers in four health facilities in the Suame Municipality, Ghana. Data on participants’ socio-demographics, knowledge of infection prevention and control practices and adherence to infection prevention and control practices were collected using a pre-tested structured questionnaire. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to examine the effect of demographic characteristics and knowledge of infection prevention and control on adherence to infection prevention and control practices among study participants.Results:Over three-quarters (75.9%) of the study participants had adequate knowledge of infection prevention and control practices with a significant knowledge gap in the colour coding of bin liners for waste segregation (35.6%). The proportion of study participants who reported good adherence to infection prevention and control practices was 86.7%. Healthcare workers who were 33 years and above (Adjusted odds ratio (AOR): 0.27; 95% Confidence interval (CI): 0.08–0.92) and absence of an infection prevention and control committee at the facility AOR: 0.25; 95% CI: 0.08–0.73) had reduced odds of good adherence to infection prevention and control practices. Nursing staff (AOR: 9.49, 95% CI: 2.51–35.87) and having adequate knowledge of infection prevention and control practices (AOR: 2.66; 95% CI: 1.19–5.97) were associated with increased odds of good adherence to infection prevention and control practices.Conclusion:Adherence to infection prevention and control practices was high among this sample of Ghanaian healthcare workers. Interventions and strategies to improve adherence should include the setting up of infection prevention and control committees, education and strict observance of colour coding of bin liners for waste segregation and intensification of training of healthcare workers in infection prevention and control practices.

<p>The global pandemic of Covid-19 created dramatic challenges for governments worldwide. It led to skyrocketing numbers of deaths and outbreaks, challenged the public and private health systems of many countries and brought many national economies to a halt. Kenya was not an exception and like other countries used a number of strategies to combat the epidemic but equally suffered the same fate. There is little empirical evidence to determine whether the strategies, especially by the county governments were effective in handling the Covid-19 pandemic. Thereby lies the knowledge gap that this study seeks to answer. It is against this background that this study sought to assess the extent to which medical equipment and supplies, personnel and funding influenced the management of the Covid-19 pandemic by county governments in Kenya. The general objective guiding the study was, to assess the factors influencing the management of the Covid-19 pandemic among county governments in Kenya. The specific objectives of the study were: To determine the extent to which medical equipment and supplies influenced the management of the Covid-19 pandemic in the county governments, to determine the extent to which the use of personnel resources influenced the management of the Covid-19 pandemic in the county governments and to determine the extent to which funding influenced the management of Covid-19 pandemic in the county governments. Fink's crisis management model guided the study, which reviewed the empirical literature on medical equipment and supplies, personnel resources and funding in the management of the Covid-19 pandemic. This study adopted a descriptive survey research design with a target population of 70,500 employees from the health sector. The research used simple random sampling as a sampling technique and a sample size of 100 respondents was selected using the Yamane formula. Data was collected using questionnaires. The data were subjected to descriptive statistics and analyzed using SPSS. Based on the findings, 79.6% of the respondents agreed that medical equipment and supplies greatly influenced the management of the Covid-19 pandemic in the county governments, 85% of the respondents indicated that personnel resources played a critical role in the management of Covid-19 pandemic among the counties and 74.2% of the respondents agreed that funding greatly influenced management of Covid-19 pandemic in county governments. Based on the findings, the study recommended that a staff audit and workload analysis should be undertaken and a recruitment process initiated to improve staffing levels; an audit of bed capacity of all medical facilities be initiated and a procurement plan for the acquisition of additional beds based on needs undertaken; an audit and analysis of staff training be undertaken to identify training gaps and necessary action initiated; negotiate with SRC on additional medical staff allowances and lastly fast-track legislation on the expenditure of emergency funds.</p><p> </p><p><strong>JEL</strong>: H10; H51; H76; I10; I18</p><p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0959/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>

Coronavirus has been shaking the world since 31 December 2019, with its world-wide pandemic impact since 11 March 2020. Although its impact on mortality rate against the total incidents is relatively small, the fatality rate against critical care admission due to the event of ARDS remains relatively high. The 2019 Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) has a serious consequence in the Intensive Care Unit care, which leads to a high demand for more ICU staffs, isolation rooms, equipment (mainly ventilators). These limitations along with the recently unavailable definitive treatment require an adapted ICU care system for the provided services. ICU care should therefore more aimed at improving the quality of life (patients, families, and staff). This can be done by providing symptomatic therapy, advance care planning, and end of life / dying care in an unusual circumstances (isolation). All of these services may refer to the application of palliative care principles, which have not been extensively applied in the critical care. This review is aimed to offer application of palliative care in intensive care in during pandemic with scarce of resources. How to Cite this Article Pubmed Style Helmi M, Sari D, Meliala A, Trisnantoro L. of COVID-19 Pandemic in the Intensive Care under Scarce of Resources with Palliative Care SRP. 2020; 11(7): 193-203. doi:10.31838/srp.2020.7.31 Web Style Helmi M, Sari D, Meliala A, Trisnantoro L. of COVID-19 Pandemic in the Intensive Care under Scarce of Resources with Palliative Care http://www.sysrevpharm.org/?mno=125716 [Access: March 29, 2021]. doi:10.31838/srp.2020.7.31 AMA (American Medical Association) Style Helmi M, Sari D, Meliala A, Trisnantoro L. of COVID-19 Pandemic in the Intensive Care under Scarce of Resources with Palliative Care SRP. 2020; 11(7): 193-203. doi:10.31838/srp.2020.7.31 Vancouver/ICMJE Style Helmi M, Sari D, Meliala A, Trisnantoro L. of COVID-19 Pandemic in the Intensive Care under Scarce of Resources with Palliative Care SRP. (2020), [cited March 29, 2021]; 11(7): 193-203. doi:10.31838/srp.2020.7.31 Harvard Style Helmi, M., Sari, . D., Meliala, . A. & Trisnantoro, . L. (2020) of COVID-19 Pandemic in the Intensive Care under Scarce of Resources with Palliative Care SRP, 11 (7), 193-203. doi:10.31838/srp.2020.7.31 Turabian Style Helmi, Mochamat, Djayanti Sari, Andreasta Meliala, and Laksono Trisnantoro. 2020. of COVID-19 Pandemic in the Intensive Care under Scarce of Resources with Palliative Care Systematic Reviews in Pharmacy, 11 (7), 193-203. doi:10.31838/srp.2020.7.31 Chicago Style Helmi, Mochamat, Djayanti Sari, Andreasta Meliala, and Laksono Trisnantoro. Management of COVID-19 Pandemic in the Intensive Care under Scarce of Resources with Palliative Care Approach. Systematic Reviews in Pharmacy 11 (2020), 193-203. doi:10.31838/srp.2020.7.31 MLA (The Modern Language Association) Style Helmi, Mochamat, Djayanti Sari, Andreasta Meliala, and Laksono Trisnantoro. Management of COVID-19 Pandemic in the Intensive Care under Scarce of Resources with Palliative Care Approach. Systematic Reviews in Pharmacy 11.7 (2020), 193-203. Print. doi:10.31838/srp.2020.7.31 APA (American Psychological Association) Style Helmi, M., Sari, . D., Meliala, . A. & Trisnantoro, . L. (2020) of COVID-19 Pandemic in the Intensive Care under Scarce of Resources with Palliative Care Systematic Reviews in Pharmacy, 11 (7), 193-203. doi:10.31838/srp.2020.7.31

The study aimed to identify factors affecting hospital infection prevention and control practices among medical personnel at Kampala International University Teaching Hospital in Ishaka, Uganda. The research was conducted using a quantitative descriptive research design. The result revealed that 76% of respondents felt they had sufficient knowledge about infection control and prevention practices. However, 34% of respondents found precautionary measures interfered with their work, and 70% recap needles after use. Only 32% reported a 0.3% chance of acquiring HIV after a needle stick injury. The study also showed 44% of respondents had received training on hand washing within 6 months. Most respondents 78% were able to wash hands before and after procedures. Only 44% of respondents had received training on waste segregation within a 6-month period. Policies and guidelines also influenced infection prevention and control practices. 52% of respondents considered the hospital infection prevention and control committee active, and 78% of them believed that waste segregation and post-exposure prophylaxis policies were available in their departments. The study found that hand washing is being carried out as recommended due to adequate on-the-job training. However, 54% of staff perceive hand washing as a challenge, and 78% were able to wash hands before and after every procedure as recommended. Only 30% of workers have access to a regular supply of soap and detergents for washing hands. Waste segregation is being practiced as recommended, but challenges persist for medical personnel. The management team should integrate infection prevention and control into the regular supervision of healthcare providers. The study suggests that promoting hand washing in a hospital requires adequate training, facilities, supplies, staffing, and a positive attitude. It recommends frequent hand washing training, accessible running water infrastructure, disposable towels, and soap and detergents. Staff should be trained on attitude change and proper waste segregation. Keywords: Hospital, Infection, Waste, Hand washing, supplies, training.

The European Commission, each year, prepares reports that screen the progress made by the candidate countries of the European Union (EU). EU Turkey reports are considered to have a positive influence on Turkey’s COVID-19 pandemic process management. Therefore, this study aims to find out whether the EU Turkey reports have an impact on Turkey’s COVID-19 pandemic administration. Through analysing the EU Turkey reports published in 2020 and 2021, this study also tries to establish an association between Turkey’s COVID-19 pandemic management and the reports published in previous years. In this context, the thematic distribution of the content of Covid-19 in the EU 2020 and 2021 Turkey reports in the light of the progress related to epidemics and infectious diseases in Turkey and within the framework of this distribution, answers to the questions of how Turkey’s Covid-19 management is were sought. The main finding of the study is that Turkey has improved its capacity to fight epidemics and is thus prepared for the Covid-19 pandemic process, with the influence of the guidance in previous reports.

Aim: In Turkey, dentists working in public dental care centers were deployed in COVID-19 case investigation and contact tracing (CICT) teams during the pandemic. This study aims to explore the experiences of the dentists assigned to teams undertaking COVID-19 CICT practices to determine how healthcare workers should be supported when working in pandemic response and other crises. Material and method: The sample of this qualitative, phenomenological study consisted of thirty four public dentists assigned to COVID-19 CICT practices in four metropolitan areas of Turkey. Data were collected through semi-structured in-depth interviews that were conducted online in August and September 2020. The data were analyzed using thematic content analysis. Results: Six themes were revealed: preparation for CICT, basic requirements, work relations, working conditions, being a dentist assigned to CICT and COVID-19 pandemic management. The dentists complained that they were not appropriately assigned to CICT, as they lacked the preparations and sufficient training. They had to acquire personal protective equipment and other basic needs at their own expense. The working conditions were severe, and they had negative relations at work. The State and the Ministry of Health were criticized for inadequate implementation of institutional measures for COVID-19 pandemic management. Conclusions: The study showed that dentists were motivated to participate in the management of pandemics and similar crisis situations, but in a negative work environment – where they were deployed without adequate training, preparation, and ensuring their basic needs and requirements were met – they lost this motivation, and experienced stress and feelings of inadequacy.

Background: Infection control practices played a major role in prevention of SARS-CoV-2 in healthcare settings. Aim of the study was to know the compliance to infection control and prevention practices by healthcare workers in COVID-19 pandemic and the measures taken for prevention of SARS-CoV-2 spread in the hospital.Methods: An observational study was conducted at tertiary care hospital for a period of one month. All healthcare workers involved in patient care of COVID-19 and non COVID-19 was observed for their infection control practices. Areas were divided in two category, intensive care unit and indoor wards for audit. Environmental samples of various surfaces from intensive care unit and wards were taken and analyzed for the presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction.Results: Overall compliance to infection prevention practices were improved during pandemic. Hand hygiene compliance in intensive care unit and indoor wards of COVID-19 unit were 78.66% and 74.36% whilst in non COVID-19 units was 72.47% and 62.31% respectively. Compliance to revised biomedical waste (BMW) policy at COVID-19 unit were 85.20% and 71.49% in intensive care unit and ward respectively. However, at non COVID-19 unit, it was 65.22% and 57.60%. Nursing station and doffing area of ICU at non-COVID-19 unit showed presence of SARS-CoV-2 virus. While all samples collected from COVID-19 unit were negative.Conclusions: Infection prevention and control practices play a key role to curtail transmission of infection. Awareness among healthcare workers, hospital environment, and usage of personal protective equipment should be optimized even at non COVID-19 facility.

Ethics is a system of moral principles. They affect how people make decisions and lead their lives. Adilemma situation in which a difficult choice has to be made between two different things. Health care workers have a duty to care for their patients as well as their colleagues, families and the community. This duo responsibility is faced with tough challenges which the health care workers have to make decisions about. These challenges range from their profession, the environment they are working in and the patients. In Kenya, the first person to test positive for COVID-19 was reported on 13th March 2020. COVID -19 is a highly infectious disease that is known to spread very fast than the capacity of the health care system in Kenya can absorb. These two major characteristics (highly infectious and fast spreading) poses ethical dilemmas for the health care workers who are on the frontline in its management. Tough decisions such as whether to treat of not for fear of infection, which patient should be given priority against others, whether to disclose patients' information and resources allocation have to be made. The health care workers have to strike a balance between their professional code of conduct and the Ministry of Health guidelines in the management of the pandemic. The objective of this paper was to discuss the ethical dilemmas facing health care workers in Kenya in the wake of Corona Virus Pandemic. While there are many ethical issues in health care service delivery, this study focused on four areas: professional responsibility, prioritizing of screening and testing, confidentiality and allocation of resources. The study employed a desktop approach where secondary information was searched from books, journals articles and online sources. The study established that health care workers in Kenya are guided by codes of conduct for the different ranks in the health care delivery system. While it is the duty of the healthcare workers to manage the patients under their care, the study stabled that with COVID-19 and its nature, there are certain conditions to be fulfilled such as availability of appropriate personal protective equipment. The study also established that the status of persons testing positive for COVID-19 was disclosed due to public interest. The study also notes that there exists a criterion for prioritizing screening and testing for COVID- 19. Availability of resources, both soft and hard resources was noted to be a great challenge. Kenya health care system lacks critical care equipment such as ICU beds, oxygen and ventilators. In conclusion the many challenging ethical, social, economic and legal issues around the management of COVID-19 Pandemic in Kenya invites decision and policy makers and the entire society to re-examine the fundamental assumptions and foundation in the country's current health care system. This is because COVID-19 Pandemic has caused a ‘new normal' and to fit in this new dispensation Kenya needs to re-engineer and intervene in her health care system.

Objective: This research evaluated the impact of a peer-support health education programme on tuberculosis infection prevention and control practices among HIV-positive patients receiving anti-retroviral therapy (ART) in a tertiary hospital. Methods: A quasi-experimental design was used for this study. Forty respondents were randomly selected between January and April 2023. Two tertiary health institutions in Ogun State, Nigeria with Direct Observation Treatment Shortcut programme were purposively selected. Systematic sampling was used to select the participants from the selected facilities and they were grouped into one experimental group (EG) and one control Group (CG). The intervention was implemented for six weeks and data were collected at baseline, immediate post-intervention and at 12th-week follow-up. Results: At the 12th-week follow-up, the peer-supported health education intervention had a significant effect (t78=14.21, effect size =3.09, p <0.05) on the Intervention Group with a mean score (X̅) of 6.85±0.86 compared to the Control Group (CG) with a mean score (X̅) of 3.95±0.96. Furthermore, among the Intervention Group, there is a significant difference (t39=19.0, effect size =3.06, p <0.05) in the effect of the peer-supported health education intervention program on TB infection prevention practices of participants at baseline (X̅ =3.98±0.73) and also at 12th weeks follow-up (X̅ =6.90±0.71). Conclusion: There was a significant association between the intervention and improvement in TB infection prevention and control practices. More focus should be placed on peer-supported health education TB prevention interventions among HIV patients. Also, the National Tuberculosis Control Programme should adopt peer-supported health education interventions to improve prevention practices.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on governments worldwide, necessitating swift and effective responses to contain the virus. The widespread use of social media platforms, including Twitter, has provided a channel for netizens to both praise and criticise their government’s pandemic management efforts. This study aimed to investigate netizens’ reactions to the Malaysian government leaders’ management of the COVID-19 pandemic in the information age. Qualitative methods were employed with 135 Twitter users selected as respondents using purposive sampling to gather their reactions to the government leaders’ pandemic management. An observation approach and content analysis were used to analyse the tweets posted by netizens between March 2020 and October 2022. This study revealed that netizens portrayed diverse reactions to the government leaders’ failure to implement the Movement Control Order (MCO) and carry out law enforcement in Malaysia, as evidenced by the trending hashtag (#hashtag) on Twitter. Based on the findings, several strategies for reinventing pandemic management in the information age of social media were recommended to policymakers to address the challenges faced by government leaders.

SummaryVery high mortality rates of coronavirus pandemic (COVID‐19) are observed around the world due to lack of medical equipment. The increased need for medical devices and personal protective equipment (PPE) has kept several healthcare professionals at risk. Fortunately, 3D printing technology allows to overcome the lack of medical supplies. This study highlights the impact of 3D printing on the combat against COVID19, and its importance in the medical product supply chain. Indeed, the existing medical equipment fabricated by 3D printing technology and its role in the management of Covid19 pandemic is presented. Moreover, the last works are examined to know whether the models of the medical equipment are free of use and whether useful informations are presented (eg, available design data and setup guidelines).

Healthcare-associated infections are a global health problem and are more prevalent in developing countries such as Ethiopia, but there is a paucity of research on the infection prevention practices of cleaning staff. Therefore, this study aimed to assess infection prevention and control practices and associated factors among cleaners working in healthcare facilities in Gondar City, Ethiopia. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among healthcare cleaning staff from May to June 2022. A total of 428 cleaners took part in the survey. Data were collected using a semi-structured interviewer-administered questionnaire. The data were entered into EpiData version 4.6 and analyzed using Stata version 14 software. A multivariable binary logistic regression analysis was used to ascertain the significance of associations at <0.05 p-value and the adjusted odds ratio (AOR) with a 95% confidence interval (CI). Among the 390 study participants included, 294 (75.1%) were female. Of the surveyed participants, 186 (47.7%) had good knowledge of infection prevention and control practices. This study revealed that out of the 390 healthcare cleaners, 204 (52.3%) had good infection prevention and control practices with 52.3% [95% CI (47.2, 56.4)]. Good knowledge of infection prevention and control [AOR: 1.56, 95% CI (1.03, 2.37)] and the availability of infection prevention and control guidelines in the workplace [AOR: 1.54, 95% CI (1.01, 2.33)] were significant factors associated with infection prevention and control practice. The present study found that almost half of the healthcare cleaners had poor IPC practices. The finding underlines the importance of good IPC knowledge and the accessibility of IPC guidelines to improve IPC practices among healthcare cleaning staff. The findings of this study also highlight that behavioral change interventions and paying attention, particularly to nonclinical staff such as cleaners in health care settings, are critical to reducing infection in health care settings.