Nursing & Health

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://research.avondale.edu.au/handle/123456789/457

Browse

Search Results

  • Item
    A Point Prevalence Study of Healthcare Associated Urinary Tract Infections in Australian Acute and Aged Care Faciltiies
    (2016-11-01) Gardner, Anne; Bennett, Noleen; Beckingham, Wendy; Fasugba, Oyebola; Mitchell, Brett G.

    Most healthcare-associated urinary tract infections (HAUTIs) including catheter associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs) are potentially preventable through implementation of effective strategies. To provide the foundation for a national point prevalence study of HAUTIs including CAUTIs, a three phase project was developed. This study reports the findings of Phase II which aimed to (1) pilot an online process including online database for conducting point prevalence survey of HAUTIs and CAUTIs and (2) determine the point prevalence of HAUTIs and CAUTIs in acute and aged care facilities

  • Item
    Antimicrobial Resistance Among Urinary Tract Infection Isolates of Escheria Coli in an Australian Population-Based Sample
    (2014-08-01) Mitchell, Brett G.; Mnatzaganian, George; Gardner, Anne; Fasugba, Oyebola
  • Item
    Roles, Responsibilities and Scope of Practice: Describing the ‘State of Play’ for Infection Control Professionals in Australia and New Zealand
    (2015-03-01) Mitchell, Brett G.; Gardner, Anne; MacBeth, Deborough; Halton, Kate; Hall, Lisa

    Background: In the past decade the policy and practice context for infection control in Australia and New Zealand has changed, with infection control professionals (ICPs) now involved in the implementation of a large number of national strategies. Little is known about the current ICP workforce and what they do in their day-to-day positions. The aim of this study was to describe the ICP workforce in Australia and New Zealand with a focus on roles, responsibilities, and scope of practice.

    Methods: A cross-sectional design using snowball recruitment was employed. ICPs completed an anonymous web-based survey with questions on demographics; qualifications held; level of experience; workplace characteristics; and roles and responsibilities. Chi-squared tests were used to determine if any factors were associated with how often activities were undertaken.

    Results: A total of 300 ICPs from all Australian states and territories and New Zealand participated. Most ICPs were female (94%); 53% were aged over 50, and 93% were employed in registered nursing roles. Scope of practice was diverse: all ICPs indicated they undertook a large number and variety of activities as part of their roles. Some activities were undertaken on a less frequent basis by sole practitioners and ICPs in small teams.

    Conclusion: This survey provides useful information on the current education, experience levels and scope of practice of ICPs in Australia and New Zealand. Work is now required to establish the best mechanisms to support and potentially streamline scope of practice, so that infection-control practice is optimised.

  • Item
    Tasmanian Acute Public Hospitals Healthcare Associated Infection Surveillance Report 24 - Quarter 4 2014
    (2015-11-01) McGregor, Alistair; Wilson, Fiona; Wells, Anne; Mitchell, Brett G.

    This quarterly surveillance report provides an overview of the Tasmanian acute public hospitals healthcare associated infection surveillance. The TIPCU website (www.dhhs.tas.gov.au/tipcu) contains details of the surveillance program and the methodologies used in data collection, validation and analysis. These details are not contained in this report but are freely available online should further information be required.

  • Item
    Evaluating Environmental Cleanliness in Hospitals and Other Healthcare Settings
    (2012-03-01) Dancer, Stephanie; McGregor, Alistair; Brown, Saffron; Ware, Chris; Wilson, Fiona; Mitchell, Brett G.

    The purpose of this review is to describe some of the main methodologies currently used in assessing environmental cleanliness as well as document current local, national and international practices.

  • Item
    Preventing Healthcare Associated Infections: The Role of Surveillance
    (2015-02-04) Russo, Philip; Mitchell, Brett G.

    Surveillance of healthcare-associated infections is central to healthcare epidemiology and infection control programmes and a critical factor in the prevention of these infections. By definition, the term ‘infection prevention’ implies that healthcare-associated infections may be preventable. The purpose of surveillance is to provide quality data that can be used in an effective monitoring and alert system and to reduce the incidence of preventable healthcare-associated infections. This article examines the purpose of surveillance, explains key epidemiological terms, provides an overview of approaches to surveillance and discusses the importance of validation.

  • Item
    Tasmanian Acute Public Hospitals Healthcare Associated Infection Surveillance Report 23 - Quarter 3 2014
    (2014-08-01) Mitchell, Brett G.; McGregor, Alistair; Wilson, Fiona; Wells, Anne

    This annual report provides an overview of the Tasmanian acute public hospitals healthcare associated infection surveillance. This complements the quarterly surveillance data reports that the Tasmanian Infection Prevention and Control Unit (TIPCU) has been publishing since March 2009. The TIPCU website (www.dhhs.tas.gov.au/tipcu) contains details of the surveillance program and the methodologies used in data collection, validation and analysis. These details are not contained in this report but are freely available online should further information be required.
    Any form of comparison between hospitals should be done with extreme caution and direct comparisons are not recommended. Information about how Tasmanian rates compare with those of other Australian states (where available), are provided in the Key Points sections of this report. The Appendices in this report contain more detailed information.
    Compared to the quarterly reports published by the TIPCU, this report contains some additional detail, such as infection rates by financial year and antimicrobial use. From this report, the following findings can be made:
    • The rate of healthcare associated Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia remains low.
    • The rate and number of both hospital identified Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) and healthcare associated – healthcare facility onset Clostridium difficile infection (HCA – HCF CDI) are similar to those in the previous quarter.
    • The occurrence of vancomycin resistant enterococcus remains low.

  • Item
    Australian Graduating Nurses’ Knowledge, Intentions and Beliefs on Infection Prevention and Control: A Cross-Sectional Study
    (2014-12-12) Matheson, Lucinda; Cloete, Linda; Wilson, Fiona; Wells, Anne; Say, Richard; Mitchell, Brett G.

    Background: In recent year, national bodies have been actively addressing the increasing concern on the spread of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). The current study measures the knowledge, intentions and beliefs of third-year Australian nursing students on key infection prevention and control (IPC) concepts.

    Methods: A cross-sectional study of final-year undergraduate nursing students from Schools of Nursing at six Australian universities was undertaken. Students were asked to participate in an anonymous survey. The survey explored knowledge of standard precautions and transmission based precautions. In addition intentions and beliefs towards IPC were explored.

    Results: 349 students from six universities completed the study. 59.8% (95% CI 58.8–60.8%) of questions were answered correctly. Significantly more standard precaution questions were correctly answered than transmission-based precaution questions (p < 0.001). No association was found between self-reported compliance with IPC activities and gender or age. Certain infection control issues were correlated with the percentage of correctly answered transmission-based precaution questions. The participants were most likely to seek infection control information from an infection control professional.

    Conclusion: Knowledge on transmission-based precautions was substandard. As transmission-based precautions are the foundation of IPC for serious organisms and infections, education institutions should reflect on the content and style of educational delivery on this topic.

  • Item
    Gender Differences in Effectiveness of the Complete Health Improvement Program (CHIP) Lifestyle Intervention: An Australasian Study
    (2014-12-05) Diehl, Hans; Chang, Esther; Mitchell, Brett G.; Rankin, Paul; Morton, Darren; Kent, Lillian

    Issue addressed: Complete Health Improvement Program (CHIP) is a lifestyle modification program that promotes healthy diet, physical activity and stress management techniques. Among US CHIP participants, differences in gender responsiveness to improvements in chronic disease risk factors were demonstrated. This study examined gender differences in outcomes to the CHIP intervention in Australasia.

    Methods: Changes in body weight, blood pressure (BP), blood lipid profile and fasting plasma glucose (FPG) were assessed in 925 participants (34.3% men, mean age = 56.0 ± 12.5 years; 65.7% women, mean age = 54.4 ± 13.5 years) 30 days after program commencement.

    Results: Significant reductions (P < 0.001) in all biometrics measured were found for men and women but were greater among men for total (TC) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL), triglycerides (TG), FPG, body mass index (BMI) and TC/high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL) ratio. Participants with highest baseline classifications of BMI, systolic BP, blood lipids and FPG showed greatest reductions in 30 days.

    Conclusions: CHIP more effectively reduced chronic disease risk factors among men than women. All participants, but particularly men, entering the program with the greatest risk achieved the largest reductions. Possible physiological or behavioural factors include food preferences, making commitments and differential support modes.

    So what?: Developers of lifestyle intervention programs should consider gender differences in physiological and behavioural factors when planning interventions. In particular, developers should manage expectations of people entering lifestyle interventions to increase awareness that men tend to respond better than women. In addition, this is a call for further research to identify the underlying mechanisms responsible for the disproportionate responsiveness of males.