Patients prefer being in a single room even if they do not know they have an infection

Background/Aims: The literature reveals negative psychological impacts on patients who are isolated in single rooms because of infections. It was proposed that a lack of infection control education was a potential contributor to decreased satisfaction and increased anxiety amongst such patients. The aim of this study was to identify whether providing information brochures to infectious patients that are isolated in single rooms improves the patient experience.\ud \ud Methods: A convenience sample of 34 medical/surgical patients who were isolated in single rooms during the month of February 2013 was interviewed by infection control nurses. Between March and June 2013, ward nursing staff were asked to provide an information brochure for patients isolated in single rooms because of infections. From July 2013, 24 patients in single rooms were interviewed in a similar way as previously.\ud \ud Results: Pre-intervention, the majority of patients (n=23) knew they were in a single room due to infections, preferred being in a single room(n=25), and understood why staff wore personal protective clothing prior to entering their room (n=32). Post-intervention, fewer patients knew why they were being isolated, yet the majority (n=15) preferred the quietness of a single room. Only two-thirds of patients (n=16) were given the information brochure. Conclusion: Education pertaining to infection control is not easily delivered by ward nurses. There is clearly an opportunity for infection control nurses to be directly involved in educating patients about transmission based precautions. Consequently, the patient information brochures have been amended and the infection control nurses deliver and discuss these with the patients on their daily ward rounds