Qualitative Research –hand Hygiene And Infection Prevention Essay Sample

The post surgery period is a highly susceptible phase for infections of different sort. Hand hygiene is strongly recommended in this phase to avoid the risks and complications of infections. Hand hygiene, which is a culturally accepted practice, is followed with the main goal of prevention of transfer of germs and pathogens. Aziz (2014) stresses that “hand hygiene compliance can improve patient care, prevents healthcare associated infections (HCAIs) and is fundamentally a patient safety prerequisite”. But as stated by Mortell (2012) even the practitioners don’t comply with the hand hygiene practices and there is an ethical factor to it.
A research on hand hygiene and infection prevention in the post surgical patients can be done using qualitative methods. The most suitable method of data collection is indirect or covert observation (Eckmanns et al 2006) by unidentified personnel. The respondents can be selected using a purposive sampling. The sample can include health care professionals who come in contact with the post operative patients and whose hygiene is important in preventing an infection among the patients. The observers need to be trained thoroughly regarding the hand hygiene aspects, when and where to observe, and how frequently the observations have to be taken, so that they can frame forms and record it accurately. The observations can follow a structured schedule. It can include the respondents’ demographic and socioeconomic details, along with their hand hygiene practices, awareness on hand hygiene technique and difficulties in adhering to hand hygiene. The respondents’ suggestions, if any, to improve the hand hygiene can also be recorded (Aziz 2014 & Mortell 2012). Inter-observer agreements and the measures taken to overcome observer bias will indicate whether the data is properly documented. The data can be analysed by calculating adherence rate where “the action is compared with the opportunity.”(WHO 2006). The adherence rates are generally calculated as:

Total number of acts of hand hygiene when the opportunity existed

Total number of hand hygiene opportunities
This can be calculated by composite measures or item-by-item measures or all-or-none measures. In the case of all-or-none measures, the adherence rate is calculated by:
hand hygiene was performed at all opportunities
one opportunity was observed
This method, recommended by the IHI (2014), raises the bar reflecting the interests of the patients indicating that anything less than the complete adherence to hand hygiene is unacceptable.

References

Aziz, Ann-Marie (2014). Hand hygiene compliance for patient safety. British Journal of Healthcare Management, 20(9), 428-434.
Eckmanns, T., Bessert, J., Behnke, M., Gastmeier, P., Rudenet, H. (2006). Compliance with antiseptic hand rub use in intensive care units: the Hawthorne effect. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 27(9): 931–934.
Mortell, Manfred (2012). Hand hygiene compliance: is there a theory-practice-ethics gap? British Journal of Nursing, 21(17), 1011-1014.
World Health Organization (WHO) (2004). World Alliance for Patient Safety: Manual for Observers. Retrieved from: http://www.who.int/patientsafety/en/brochure_final.pdf [25-02-2015].