Infection Control Inspections at the General, Postpartum and Psychiatric Nursing Facilities, 2014

Abstract

To improve the healthcare quality and reduce health care-associated infections in nursing facilities, Taiwan Centers for Disease Control established the infection control inspection checklist for general, postpartum and psychiatric nursing facilities and started the first inspection in 2014. The on-site inspections were conducted by infection control experts appointed by local health authorities during April-October, 2014. Total 456 nursing facilities, including 328 general nursing facilities, 111 postpartum nursing facilities and 17 psychiatric nursing facilities were inspected. The criteria require a rating of inspection tasks scored ＂level C and above＂ for general nursing facilities, or tasks scored ＂meet the criteria＂ should achieve 60 % for both postpartum and psychiatric nursing facilities. Local health authorities assist facilities failing the inspection to correct their flaws and conduct a follow-up inspection. Overall, 99.8% of the facilities fulfilled the criteria; only one general nursing facility did not pass the inspection. Facilities' performance were weak in several inspection tasks, such as ＂health examination and vaccination of workers and residents＂, ＂pre-employment and on-job infection control training for workers (including kitchen workers and meal-serving staff)＂, ＂infection prevention and treatment for residents＂, ＂stockpile of personal protective equipment＂, ＂setting and using of the isolation area＂, ＂cleanness of the potable water equipment＂, and ＂setting and using of the contaminant handling area＂. Facilities had corrected their flaws or proposed improvement plans based on experts' recommendations after the inspection. These experiences can be used as reference for formulating and implementing infection control policies and inspection programs of the long-term care facilities.