Am J Infect Control

Background

Decreasing transmission of resistant organisms in hospitals is a key goal of infection prevention plans. Studies have shown that health care worker (HCW) compliance with isolation precautions is inadequate. Direct observation of HCW behavior for measuring adherence is considered the “gold standard” but is labor intensive, requiring the collection and analysis of a large volume of observations.

Methods

Two methods of data collection were evaluated to asses HCW compliance: a manual method using a paper form (PF) with subsequent data entry into a database, and an electronic method using a web-based form (WBF) with real-time data recording. Observations were conducted at four hospitals (2,065 beds) to assess availability of gloves, gowns and masks, isolation sign postings, and HCW isolation practices.

Results

A total of 13,878 isolation rooms were observed in 2009. The median number of rooms observed/day for PF and WBF were 61 and 60 and the mean observation times/room were 149sec and 60sec, respectively. The WBF provided a time savings of 89 sec/room.

Conclusions

Simple electronic forms can significantly decrease resources needed to monitor HCW adherence to hospital policies. The WBF decreased observation time by 60%, allowing for an increase in frequency and expansion of surveillance activities.

21737176

PMC3193891

Journal Article

CDC Public Access