Improving Safety Through Proper Personal Protective Usage

Nurses are constantly surrounded by potentially hazardous agents. They take care of patients with diseases that are highly contagious such as influenza, varicella, and Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA). To combat the high risk of transmission, hospitals have adopted evidence based practices that indicates personal protective equipment (PPE) must be worn during airborne, droplet, and contact precautions. In addition to protecting the nurse, 36 5th Annual Student Research Symposium PPE aids in the reduction of infections in patients who have lowered immune systems and are on neutropenic precautions. This means that the purpose of PPE is not only to protect the nurse, but to also protect the patient. Despite these precautions and the high risk of contamination, nurses are not properly utilizing PPE. Issues that contribute to the problem include nurses believing that it is a hindrance to their job performance, the lack of availability, and time constraints. The absence of PPE can potentially lead to nosocomial infections, increased hospital stays, and mortality. This review of the literature presents reasons as to why staff nurses are noncompliant with PPE protocols by highlighting different causes that continually appeared in several various articles and studies