Healthcare-associated infection management has advanced rapidly in recent years. With the development of more standards and guidelines, infection control measures become more standardized and evidence-based. Evidence-based measures are increasingly applied in infection control, which promote more studies on the prevention and control of healthcare-associated infections. Furthermore, more new ideas of infection control have emerged, with old ones being challenged. The hand hygiene reform, multidrug-resistant organisms, and surgical site infections become the hot topics in recent years. In addition, whole-genome sequencing also provides more bases for understanding pathogen transmission in hospitals. Based on the high-quality studies published in recent years, this opinion review discusses these hot topics in the prevention and control of healthcare-associated infections.
Objective To compare administration of incidence reporting systems for healthcare risk management in the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia, and Taiwan, and to provide evidence and recommendations for healthcare risk management policy in China. Methods We searched the official websites of the healthcare risk management agencies of the four countries and one district for laws, regulatory documents, research reports, reviews, and evaluation forms concerned with healthcare risk management and assessment. Descriptive comparative analysis was performed on relevant documents. Results (1) A total of 142 documents were included in this study. The United States had the most relevant documents (68). (2) The type of incidents from reporting systems has expanded from medication errors and hospital-acquired infections to near-misses, and now includes all patient safety incidents. (3) The incidence-reporting systems can be grouped into two models: government-led and legal/regulatory/NGO-collaborative. (4) In two cases, reporting systems were established for specific incident types: One for death or serious injury events (the sentinel events database in Britain, SIRL), and one for healthcare-associated infections (NHSN in America). (5) Compared to the four countries, Taiwan’s system put more emphasis on public welfare, confidentiality, and information sharing. The contents of reporting there covered every aspect of risk management to create a more secure environment. Conclusion (1) Britain’s national reporting and learning system was representative of a government-led model; (2) The United States was the earliest country to have a reporting system, which included a limited range of incident types. Management of incidents became more reliable with increased application of laws, regulations, and guidances; (3) Both the Canadian and the Australian systems drew from the American experience and are still developing; (4) The Taiwanese system was comprehensive and is an instructional case.
ObjectiveTo describe the status of epilepsy inpatients healthcare service in tertiary public hospitals in China by the data collected from the Hospital Quality Monitoring System.MethodsA population-based study was conducted with data of hospitalized patients collected from the Hospital Quality Monitoring System between 2015 and 2017. Diagnoses were identified by International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems 10th Revision codes for epilepsy (G40). The information of demographic characteristics, costs, payment methods, and discharge status were extracted and analyzed annually to make cross-sectional studies.ResultsA total of 329 241 hospitalized epilepsy patients from 585 tertiary public hospitals were identified. The average age of the patients was 31.74 and male patients accounted for 60.00% of the total. The proportion of patients covered by the national basic medical insurance in the three years was 50.15%, and that in the year 2015, 2016, and 2017 was 49.03%, 49.79%, and 51.80%, respectively; the proportion of patients with full self-payment was 30.40%. The average length of hospital stay was 6.65 d, the average cost for each stay was 7 985.53 yuan, the average self-payed cost for each stay was 3 979.62 yuan. In terms of the discharge way of the patients, 88.02% discharged following doctors’ advice, 0.40% were transferred to another hospital with doctors’ advice, and 6.59% discharged against doctors’ advice. The in-hospital mortality in the three years was 0.16%, and that in the year 2015, 2016, and 2017 was 0.19%, 0.16%, and 0.12%, respectively.ConclusionThe study shows that the in-hospital mortality rate of epilepsy inpatients in the tertiary public hospitals in China decreased gradually from 2015 to 2017, the coverage rate of national basic medical insurance increased year by year, and there is still room for further improvement.
The article summarized the national and international history and current situation of healthcare-associated infection control, and analyzed the tendency of new technique and progress in healthcare-associated infection control according to the experience in research and practice.
Electronic skin has shown great application potential in many fields such as healthcare monitoring and human-machine interaction due to their excellent sensing performance, mechanical properties and biocompatibility. This paper starts from the materials selection and structures design of electronic skin, and summarizes their different applications in the field of healthcare equipment, especially current development status of wearable sensors with different functions, as well as the application of electronic skin in virtual reality. The challenges of electronic skin in the field of wearable devices and healthcare, as well as our corresponding strategies, are discussed to provide a reference for further advancing the research of electronic skin.
Objective To understand the current situation of the use and cognition of personal protective equipment (PPE) by healthcare workers in the isolation wards (rooms) during the coronavirus disease 2019 epidemic, and provide data support for the country to further optimize the configuration of PPE and carry out more targeted training and supervision. Methods In March 2020, healthcare workers in isolation wards (rooms) in provinces and cities in the country were investigated by filling in a questionnaire about the use of different levels of PPE. Results A total of 6 859 questionnaires were collected from 29 provinces and cities, containing 5 935 valid questionnaires (86.53%). Among them, there were 448 assisting-Hubei medical team members and 5 487 non-assisting-Hubei healthcare workers. The actual use rate (74.22%) and intended use rate (73.14%) of surgical masks in the cleaning areas were the highest. The actual use rate and intended use rate of working caps in potentially contaminated areas and contaminated areas were higher than 90%. There were various combinations of protective articles, and there were significant differences between actual use and intention (P<0.05). Except for the boot covers (single layer) in the cleaning areas, the working caps, isolation clothing and boot covers (double layer) in the potential pollution areas, and the protective face screens, working caps, three-layer shoe covers and single/double/three-layer boot covers in the pollution areas-splashing operations (P>0.05), the actual utilization rates of protective articles of the assisting-Hubei medical team members were generally higher than those of the non-assisting-Hubei healthcare workers (P<0.05). Conclusions The instructions for the use of PPE in different areas and operations should be further refined, and standardized training should be increased. The phenomenon of non-standard use of protective equipment should be reduced, and a safety barrier should be provided to the healthcare workers.
Objective Interpretation of the growing body of global literature on health care risk is compromised by a lack of common understanding and language. This series of articles aims to comprehensively compare laws and regulations, institutional management, and administration of incidence reporting systems on medical risk management in the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia, and Taiwan, so as to provide evidence and recommendations for health care risk management policy in China. Methods?We searched the official websites of the healthcare risk management agencies of the four countries and one district for laws, regulatory documents, research reports, reviews and evaluation forms concerned with healthcare risk management and assessment. Descriptive comparative analysis was performed on relevant documents. Results?A total of 146 documents were included in this study, including 2 laws (1.4%), 17 policy documents (11.6%), 41 guidance documents (28.1%), 37 reviews (25.3%), and 49 documents giving general information (33.6%). The United States government implemented one law and one rule of patient safety management, while the United Kingdom and Australia each issued professional guidances on patient safety improvement. The four countries implemented patient safety management policy on four different levels: national, state/province/district, hospital, and non-governmental organization. Conclusion?The four countries and one district adopted four levels of patient safety management, and the administration modes can be divided into an “NGO-led mode” represented by the United States and Canada and a “government-led mode” represented by the United Kingdom, Australia, and Taiwan.
With the continuous development of medical technology, ambulatory surgery or day surgery is becoming a new and very efficient medical service model in China. However, infection prevention and control in ambulatory surgery center has not yet attracted the attention of infection control practitioners. This paper analyzes the necessity, status quo, and entry point of infection prevention and control work in ambulatory surgery centers. Recommendations in the field of risk assessment, engineering control, behavior management, surveillance, and antimicrobial stewardship are provided to infection control practitioners as well.
Objective To set up healthcare device-technology deployment assessment model and procedures through establishing the assessment parameter system between the functions of the clinical technical requirements and devices. Methods The bidirectional assessment parameter system developed by the literature review and Delphi, then combination weighting calculated by the combination weighting method, and the proposals for function deployment performed on the cluster analysis. Results The positive coefficients of twice Delphi were 75.56% and 87.50%, respectively. The effective recovery rates of the questionnaire were higher. The structure of the bidirectional assessment parameter system acquired according to the data mining and review, Delphi and integrated analysis. We calculated the weighting for the required functions and the deployed functions of the ventilator in the ICU, ER and RR. We listed the absolute importance and rank. The proposals for the function deployment of the ventilator which met different needs in fields of the critical care medicine were produced by the cluster analysis, ranking absolute importance and the calibration of weighting based on the investigation for actual function utilized rate. Conclusion It studies healthcare device-technology deployment assessment model by sequential integrated methods and sets up bidirectional assessment parameter system based on clinical technical function requirement, and the result is effective.
Objective To investigate the situation and related factors of influenza vaccination among healthcare workers in Sichuan, and provide a basis for the formulation of the strategy of influenza vaccination. Methods From August 1st to August 6th, 2022, healthcare workers from 21 prefectures and cities in Sichuan province were selected by the hospital infection quality control centers to conduct an online questionnaire survey for status and related factors of influenza vaccination. Single factor analysis of vaccination rate was carried out by χ2 test, and the related factors of influenza vaccination were analyzed by binary multiple logistic regression model. Results A total of 3264 copies of questionnaires were distributed, and 3244 valid copies were recovered, with an effective recovery rate of 99.4%. The vaccination rate of influenza vaccine in the surveyed healthcare workers was 56.9% (1846/3244). The gender, age, professional title, position, department, hospital type, hospital nature, hospital level, influenza awareness, and influenza vaccination willingness were the factors resulting in statistically significant differences in influenza vaccination rate among healthcare workers (P<0.05). Binary multiple logistic regression indicated that age≥35 years old [odds ratio (OR)=0.799, 95% confidence interval (CI) (0.681, 0.937), P=0.006], the educational background being bachelor degree or above [OR=1.221, 95%CI (1.036, 1.439), P=0.017], position [nurses vs. doctors: OR=1.339, 95%CI (1.112, 1.612), P=0.002; technicians vs. doctors: OR=1.849, 95%CI (1.278, 2.676), P=0.001], the hospital type being specialized hospital [OR=1.804, 95%CI (1.446, 2.251), P<0.001], hospital level [secondary vs. primary hospitals: OR=0.344, 95%CI (0.271, 0.437), P<0.001; tertiary vs. primary hospitals: OR=0.526, 95%CI (0.413, 0.671), P<0.001], influenza awareness [fair vs. poor: OR=1.262, 95%CI (1.057, 1.508), P=0.010; good vs. poor: OR=1.489, 95%CI (1.142, 1.940), P=0.003], vaccination willingness [OR=4.725, 95%CI (4.009, 5.569), P<0.001] were related factors of influenza vaccination in healthcare workers. The influenza awareness was good in 416 healthcare workers (12.8%), fair in 1989 (61.3%), and poor in 839 (25.9%). The correct rate of influenza vaccination frequency was the highest (82.7%), while the correct rate of influenza contraindication was the lowest (3.2%). Among the healthcare workers, 2206 (68.0%) were willing to be vaccinated, of whom 1548 (70.2%) believed that they could protect people with weak immune function around them after vaccination; 1038 were unwilling to be vaccinated with influenza vaccine in the near future, of whom 335 (32.3%) believed that they had strong immunity and did not need to be vaccinated. Conclusions The influenza vaccination rate of medical staff is related to a variety of factors. Strengthening the publicity and education, and encouraging hospitals to provide free influenza vaccination, especially the correct understanding of contraindications, may be helpful to improve the vaccination rate.