oa An observational study to analyze compliance with infection control practices among ED nurses during outbreak of MERS-COV disease

Background: Early identification and isolation of suspected communicable diseases are a major health concern, especially when there is an outbreak of a communicable disease. The ED is an essential component of the health care system and subject to workflow challenges, which may hinder ED personnel adherence to guideline based infection prevention practices.

Methods: In total, 993 suspected MERS-COV patients and their assigned nurses were screened, prospective data was recorded to study the compliance with set infection control practices. That is, hand hygiene (HH), proper use of personnel protective equipments (PPE), isolation techniques, and use of isolation indicators. Data was collected for a period of six months from Nov 2013 to April 2014. Data was then transferred into an excel sheet to calculate the percentage of compliance and non-compliance with each indicator. Each indicator was analyzed separately to find out the poor compliance.

Results: Out of 993 observations made 76.74% of nurses adhered to hand hygiene practices and 57.30% used proper PPE as recommended by CDC guidelines, 69.59% of suspected MERS-COV patients were isolated using the right technique and 73.31% used correct isolation indicators. The lowest indicator identified is in the use of proper PPE, were 42.70% of nurses are not complying with the standard.

Conclusion: Compliance with the infection control indicators showed improvement over time except in the use of proper PPE. Focused training, vigorous awareness campaigning is required to achieve a target of 100% compliance with infection control practices.