Increasing Compliance of Personal Protective Equipment S election and Use for Isolation Precautions Among RNs & NAs on a Med-Surg Unit

Background: Due to the high potential of transferring infectious diseases and/or organisms among patients, themselves, and the community, healthcare workers (HCWs) must be knowledgeable and confident in selecting the appropriate type of personal protective equipment (PPE), and the use in technique when putting on (donning) and removing (doffing) PPE based on the level of isolation precautions required for the patient being cared for. Project Purpose: The purpose of this project is to determine whether assessing the knowledge and actual practice with observing, and utilizing an innovative approach of video and educational tools to isolation precautions would improve the consistency of compliance with PPE selection and use among registered nurses (RNs) and nursing assistants (NAs) on a medical-surgical unit. Methodology: The theoretical framework incorporated in the study was Schön’s Theory of Reflective Practice. A pre-intervention questionnaire was distributed, and pre- and post-intervention observations were conducted to evaluate PPE selection and use by RNs and NAs. Results: The pre-intervention data from both the knowledge questionnaire and the observations showed various inconsistencies in RNs’ and NAs’ PPE technique and selection choice. A comparison of the pre- and post-intervention observation data showed that there was significant increase in all four analyzed categories—hand hygiene (45% to 70%), selection of PPE (79% to 80%), sequence of putting on PPE (70% to 85%), and sequence of removing PPE (76% to 85%). Recommendations: Future research studies should plan for a longer period of time to assess and collect pre- and post-intervention data, and include a larger sample. An expanded research project should also examine the correlation between HCWs’ compliance rates with PPE and isolation precautions, and the incidence of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). Keywords: isolation precautions, personal protective equipment (PPE), compliance, Clinical Nurse Leader (CNL), healthcare-associated infections, infection control, patient car