Impact of personal protective equipment on patient safety and health care workers

Pankaj Kumar; Mantu Jain; G Amirthavaali; Tushar S Mishra; Prakash K Sasmal; K P Lubaib; Preeti K Gond; Siddhanth Sarthak

doi:10.1016/j.mjafi.2021.07.004

Impact of personal protective equipment on patient safety and health care workers

Med J Armed Forces India. 2023 Sep-Oct;79(5):531-538. doi: 10.1016/j.mjafi.2021.07.004. Epub 2021 Oct 19.

Authors

Pankaj Kumar¹, Mantu Jain², G Amirthavaali³, Tushar S Mishra⁴, Prakash K Sasmal⁵, K P Lubaib⁶, Preeti K Gond⁶, Siddhanth Sarthak⁶

Affiliations

¹ Associate Professor (General Surgery), AIIMS, Bhubaneswar, India.
² Associate Professor (Orthopedic Surgery), AIIMS, Bhubaneswar, India.
³ Nursing Officer, AIIMS, Bhubaneswar, India.
⁴ Professor (General Surgery), AIIMS, Bhubaneswar, India.
⁵ Additional Professor (General Surgery), AIIMS, Bhubaneswar, India.
⁶ Resident (Orthopedic Surgery), AIIMS, Bhubaneswar, India.

PMID: 37719904
PMCID: PMC10499652 (available on 2024-09-01)
DOI: 10.1016/j.mjafi.2021.07.004

Abstract

Background: The study aims to assess the effect of personal protective equipment (PPE) on the physical and psychological well-being of health care workers (HCWs) and its impact on patient safety.

Methods: After ethical approval, a 14-point questionnaire was circulated offline and online among the HCWs of ours institute, who were involved in performing invasive procedures while wearing a PPE. The responses were analysed using the SPSS software version 26.

Results: Of 198 responses, the mean duration of PPE use was 4.6 ± 1.52 h. Seventy percent of respondents suggested <4 h of continuous use of PPE. Seventy-seven percent found difficulties during the procedures while wearing PPE and agreed to errors while performing a procedure. Poor visibility (95.5%), fogging (84.9%), communication difficulty (75.3%), sweating (74.2%), posture-related discomfort (56.1%) and poor concentration (51%) were major causes. Anxiety (39.9%) and fear of spreading an infection to the family (42.9%) were major psychological effects. Eighty percent of HCWs raised concern over the quality of PPE, N95 mask and eye protector. The HCWs felt the need to improve the quality of PPEs, use extra padding around the ears, sealing the N95 mask with adhesive tape, besides using sign language for communication for more safety. Fifty percent graded the procedure-related difficulty level >6 on a Likert scale of 1-10.

Conclusion: PPE-related discomfort is common among the HCWs and could contribute to errors during an invasive procedure. Efforts to alleviate the physical and psychological well-being of the HCWs will be essential for reducing procedural error while wearing a PPE.

Keywords: COVID-19; Health care workers; Patient safety; Personal protective equipment.