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Australian graduating nurses’ knowledge, intentions and beliefs on infection prevention and control: a cross-sectional study

BackgroundIn recent year, national bodies have been actively addressing the increasing concern on the spread of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). The current study measures the knowledge, intentions and beliefs of third-year Australian nursing students on key infection prevention and control (IPC) concepts.MethodsA cross-sectional study of final-year undergraduate nursing students from Schools of Nursing at six Australian universities was undertaken. Students were asked to participate in an anonymous survey. The survey explored knowledge of standard precautions and transmission based precautions. In addition intentions and beliefs towards IPC were explored.Results349 students from six universities completed the study. 59.8% (95% CI 58.8–60.8%) of questions were answered correctly. Significantly more standard precaution questions were correctly answered than transmission-based precaution questions (p < 0.001). No association was found between self-reported compliance with IPC activities and gender or age. Certain infection control issues were correlated with the percentage of correctly answered transmission-based precaution questions. The participants were most likely to seek infection control information from an infection control professional.ConclusionKnowledge on transmission-based precautions was substandard. As transmission-based precautions are the foundation of IPC for serious organisms and infections, education institutions should reflect on the content and style of educational delivery on this topic.

The effect of nurse-led education on hospitalisation, readmission, quality of life and cost in adults with heart failure. A systematic review

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this systematic review was to highlight the effect of nurse-led 1:1 patient education sessions on Quality of Life (QoL), readmission rates and healthcare costs for adults with heart failure (HF) living independently in the community. METHOD A systematic review of randomised control trials was undertaken. Using the search terms nurse, education, heart failure, hospitalisation, readmission, rehospitalisation, economic burden, cost, expenditure and quality of life in PubMed, CINAHL and Google Scholar databases were searched. Papers pertaining to nurse-led 1:1 HF disease management of education of adults in the community with a history of HF were reviewed. RESULT The results of this review identified nurse-led education sessions for adults with HF contribute to reduction in hospital readmissions, reduction in hospitalisation and a cost benefit. Additionally, higher functioning and improved QoL were also identified. CONCLUSION These results suggest that nurse-led patient education for adults with HF improves QoL and reduces hospital admissions and readmissions. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS Nurse-led education can be delivered utilising diverse methods and impact to reduce readmission as well as hospitalisation.

Acid burn attacks: Looking beneath the surface

This article has been accepted for publication and undergone full peer review but has not been through the copyediting, typesetting, pagination and proofreading process, which may lead to differences between this version and the Version of Record. Please cite this article as doi: 10.1111/jan.13532 This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. PROFESSOR MICHELLE CLEARY (Orcid ID : 0000-0002-1453-4850)