Awareness of health care workers with appropriate infection control practices related to multi-patient use of Close Loop Medication Administration device

Kassem Abou Yassine; Aiman El-Saed; Fatmah Othman; Sarr Ramou; Bassam H Al Alwan; Kholoud Ameer; Mustafa Hawthan; Mohammed Al Zunitan; Majid M Alshamrani

doi:10.1016/j.infpip.2023.100323

Awareness of health care workers with appropriate infection control practices related to multi-patient use of Close Loop Medication Administration device

Infect Prev Pract. 2023 Nov 2;5(4):100323. doi: 10.1016/j.infpip.2023.100323. eCollection 2023 Dec.

Authors

Kassem Abou Yassine¹, Aiman El-Saed^{1

2

3}, Fatmah Othman^{2

3}, Sarr Ramou⁴, Bassam H Al Alwan⁴, Kholoud Ameer¹, Mustafa Hawthan¹, Mohammed Al Zunitan^{1

3}, Majid M Alshamrani^{1

2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Infection Prevention and Control Department, King Abdulaziz Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
² College of Public Health and Health Informatics, King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
³ King Abdullah International Medical Research Center, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
⁴ Microbiology Laboratory, King Abdullah Specialist Children Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Abstract

Background: Portable computerized devices represent a potential source of healthcare infections. The objective was to assess the knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) of healthcare workers (HCWs) toward infection control practices used with Close Loop Medication Administration (CLMA) devices. Additionally, to quantify the impact of education and training on the bacterial burden on CLMA devices.

Methods: The study design consisted of two steps: a cross-sectional study was conducted among HCWs working in a tertiary care center in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. A 32-item questionnaire was used to assess KAP information. The second step was environmental samples collected from the surfaces of CLMA devices before and after implementing a multifaceted intervention.

Result: A total of 325 HCWs were included in the study. The mean age was 32.6±7.4 years. The majority were females (92%) and nurses (91.3%). The overall KAP score was 74.8%, 74.2% adequate knowledge, 79.3% positive attitude, and 71.3% appropriate practices. KAP score was better (≥ median KAP score) among HCWs working in laboratory and organ transplant units (P<0.001). It was also better among those with a longer duration of work experience (P<0.001) and those who received related training (P<0.001). Approximately 75% of HCWs expressed their need for more information about CLMA. Post-interventional samples had much lower bacterial burden, with the positive rate reduced from 51.4% before intervention to 16.8% after intervention (P<0.001).

Conclusions: Awareness and behavior of HCWs about appropriate infection control practices related to portable devices is still inadequate. A multifaceted intervention including education and training significantly reduces the bioburden on portable devices.

Keywords: Awareness; Healthcare workers; Infection; Infection control; Portable computerized devices; Saudi Arabia.