Education Of Healthcare Staff Research Articles

P244 Adherence with department of health guidelines for the management of pandemic H1N1 influenza in secondary care

BackgroundPrior to the 2009 swine flu pandemic, there was uncertainty about the expected incidence, morbidity and mortality from the disease. The Department of Health (DoH) compiled guidelines for assessment and...

Recent trends and prevention of infection in the neonatal intensive care unit

Survival of preterm and low birth weight neonates in increasingly advanced neonatal units has resulted in the rising incidence of healthcare-associated infections. This paper reviews recent trends in infection and its prevention in neonatal intensive care units. Emerging pathogens in the developed world are predominantly Gram positive of which coagulase-negative staphylococci are the commonest organisms, accounting for 45-75% of all late-onset bloodstream infections. In the developing world, Gram-negative pathogens have persisted, but there is an increasing incidence of coagulase-negative staphylococci there too. Both settings have reported increases in multiresistant organisms including Candida spp. Interventions to combat these infections include renewed efforts to educate healthcare staff, national surveillance programmes and the use of prophylaxis against Candida spp. Despite many interventions, outbreaks continue to occur in both resource-rich and resource-poor settings and many lessons remain to be learnt by reviewing these reports. Good infection control remains the mainstay of prevention of healthcare-associated infections in neonatal intensive care units. Whether in resource-rich or resource-poor settings, the key issues are emerging multiresistant pathogens and education of healthcare staff about prevention of infection particularly in preterm and low birth weight infants.

Effective hand hygiene education with the use of flipcharts in a hospital in El Salvador

In developing countries, continuing education for healthcare staff may be limited by staff shortages and lack of sophisticated means of delivery. These limitations have implications for compliance with an important infection control practice, namely good hand hygiene. A comparison was made between the efficacy of two educational tools commonly used in healthcare and practical sanitation settings in developing countries, i.e. videotapes and flipcharts, in delivering hand hygiene education to 67 nurses in a paediatric hospital in El Salvador. Efficacy was measured on the basis of scores obtained in pre- and post-training tests consisting of 10 multiple-choice questions. Half of the nurses received video-based instruction and half received instruction via flipcharts. Both methods of instruction increased participants' knowledge of good hand hygiene, and the extent of knowledge acquisition by the two methods was similar. Feedback obtained from flipchart users six months after training indicated that most of the respondents used the flipchart to teach hand hygiene to patients' families (62.5%), patients (50%) and healthcare workers (43.8%). Flipchart users ranked flipcharts as their favourite educational tool. Flipcharts offer an economical, easy-to-use, non-technological yet effective alternative to videotapes for delivering education in developing countries. Although the use of flipcharts requires a skilled and well-trained instructor, flipcharts could be used more widely to deliver education in resource-poor settings.

Involving NHS service users in teaching advanced clinical skills

With the development of advanced practice roles in nursing, innovative ways of delivering programmes are continually sought by academic staff working within higher education. This study explores the ways in which NHS service users can be included in education programmes to develop clinical examination skills for nurses. Although small scale and exploratory, this study concluded that NHS service users benefit from making a contribution towards the education of healthcare staff and feel empowered in the process.

Further Education of Health Care Staff

In recent years, the health care sector has faced considerable problems, which have yielded widespread public disbelief and frustration. Among these lies the complete lack of further education of health care professionals, with the exception of those in the medical profession (e.g., doctors, nurses, paramedics). Unfortunately, this situation has resulted in a considerable knowledge gap with health care staff, those who must carry out a particular mission, the success of which is highly dependent on the acquisition of specialized knowledge. The state, to deal with this problem, has established special educational studies for the staff of the health sector (Law 2683/1999). However, despite this constructive governmental action and the apparent interest in further education by young professionals, further education is nevertheless highly problematic.

Sexuality Among Institutionalized Elderly Patients with Dementia

The subject of sexuality among elderly patients with dementia was examined, focusing on two main aspects: the sexual behaviour of institutionalized elderly people with dementia; and the reactions of other patients, staff and family members to this behaviour. The behaviour was found to be mostly heterosexual and ranged from love and caring to romance and outright eroticism. Reactions varied, being accepting of love and care but often objecting to erotic behaviour. Understanding of the sexual needs of elderly people should become an integral part of the training and continued education of health care staff, thus helping to resolve conflicts and clarify common misconceptions.

Sexuality among institutionalized elderly patients with dementia.

The subject of sexuality among elderly patients with dementia was examined, focusing on two main aspects: the sexual behaviour of institutionalized elderly people with dementia; and the reactions of other patients, staff and family members to this behaviour. The behaviour was found to be mostly heterosexual and ranged from love and caring to romance and outright eroticism. Reactions varied, being accepting of love and care but often objecting to erotic behaviour. Understanding of the sexual needs of elderly people should become an integral part of the training and continued education of health care staff, thus helping to resolve conflicts and clarify common misconceptions.

Community-Acquired Fungal Diseases

Negative effects of restraint use have been well-documented. However, the prevalence of restraints use has been high in long-term care facilities in Hong Kong compared with other countries and this goes against the basic principles of ethical and compassionate care for older people. The present study aimed to review the change in the prevalence of physical and chemical restraint use in long-term care facilities (LTCFs) over a period of 11 years in Hong Kong and to identify the major factors associated with their use.This is an observational study with data obtained from the Hong Kong Longitudinal Study on LTCF Residents between 2005 and 2015. Trained assessors (nurses, social workers, and therapists) used the Minimum Data Set Resident Assessment Instrument to collect the data from 10 residential LTCFs. Physical restraint was defined as the use of any of the following: full bedside rails on all open sides of bed, other types of bedside rails used, trunk restraint, limb restraint, or the use of chair to prevent rising during the past 7 days. Chemical restraint was defined as the use of any of the following medications: antipsychotic, antianxiety, or hypnotic agents during past 7 days, excluding elder residents with a diagnosis of psychiatric illness.Annual prevalence of restraint use over 11 years and factors that were associated with the use of physical and chemical restraints.We analyzed the data for 2896 older people (978 male individuals, mean age = 83.3 years). Between 2005 and 2015, the prevalence of restraint use was as follows: physical restraint use increased from 52.7% to 70.2%; chemical restraint use increased from 15.9% to 21.78%; and either physical or chemical restraint use increased from 57.9% to 75.7%. Physical restraint use was independently associated with older age, impaired activities of daily living or cognitive function, bowel and bladder incontinence, dementia, and negative mood. Chemical restraint use was independently associated with older age, falls, bladder incontinence, use of feeding tube, dementia, poor cognitive function, delirium, behavioral problems, and negative mood. The increasing time-trend of physical but not chemical restraint use remained significant after adjusting for other factors as mentioned above (coefficient = 0.092, P < .001).Use of physical and chemical restraint was highly prevalent among LTCF residents in Hong Kong, with an increasing trend over a period of 11 years, especially targeting the most physically and cognitively frail older people. Appropriate healthcare staff education and policy change are urgently needed to ensure personal care that is characterized by respect, dignity, empathy, and compassion for the older generation.