Improving healthcare worker adherence to the use of transmission-based precautions through application of human factors design: a prospective multi-centre study.

A key component of transmission-based precautions (TBPs) is the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) but healthcare worker (HCW) adherence remains suboptimal. A human factors-based intervention was implemented to improve adherence to TBPs including (i) improved signage, (ii) standardized placement of signage, (iii) introduction of a mask with integrated face shield, and (iv) improvement in PPE availability. Donning of the correct PPE by HCWs improved significantly (79.

Standardisation of perioperative urinary catheter use to reduce postsurgical urinary tract infection: an interrupted time series study.

Background: Prevention of healthcare-associated urinary tract infection (UTI) has been the focus of a national effort, yet appropriate indications for insertion and removal of urinary catheters (UC) among surgical patients remain poorly defined.

Methods: We developed and implemented a standardised approach to perioperative UC use to reduce postsurgical UTI including standard criteria for catheter insertion, training of staff to insert UC using sterile technique and standardised removal in the operating room and surgical unit using a nurse-initiated medical directive. We performed an interrupted time series analysis up to 2 years following intervention.

Indwelling urinary catheter surveillance using a Task-oriented nurse acuity system.

The task-oriented nurse acuity system (TONAS) has long been used to calculate nursing care needs on hospital patient units, and include nursing documentation on indwelling urinary catheter use. We performed a 2500-patient validation study of our organization's TONAS, which demonstrated high interrater reliability with manual audits (κ >0.92).

New Delhi metallo-β-lactamase-1: local acquisition in Ontario, Canada, and challenges in detection.

New Delhi metallo-β-lactamase-1 (NDM-1) is a recently identified metallo-β-lactamase that confers resistance to carbapenems and all other β-lactam antibiotics, with the exception of aztreonam. NDM-1 is also associated with resistance to many other classes of antibiotics. The enzyme was first identified in organisms isolated from a patient in Sweden who had previously received medical treatment in India, but it is now recognized as endemic throughout India and Pakistan and has spread worldwide.

Prevalence of Helicobacter pylori in asymptomatic population--a pilot serological study in Bangladesh.

Epidemiological reports reveal that H. pylori is distributed among all population in the world. The present cross-sectional study was undertaken to see the H.