‘Family members screaming for help makes it very difficult to don PPE’. A qualitative study on UK ambulance staff experiences of infection prevention and control practices during the COVID-19 pandemic

IF 0.9 Q4 INFECTIOUS DISEASES
P. Eaton-Williams, Julia Williams
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Abstract

During the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK, ambulance staff continued to deliver direct patient care whilst simultaneously adapting to a considerable escalation in evolving infection prevention and control (IPC) practices. To enable learning to benefit future planning, this qualitative article aims to describe ambulance staff’s experiences of this rapid escalation of IPC practices. Three online surveys were presented during the acceleration, peak, and deceleration phases of the pandemic’s first wave in the UK (2020). Overall, 18 questions contributed 14,237 free text responses that were examined using inductive thematic analysis at both descriptive and interpretive levels. Many participants lacked confidence in policies related to the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) because of perceived inadequate supporting evidence, confusing communication, and low familiarity with items. Compliance with policy and confidence in PPE use were further influenced by discomfort, urgency, and perceptions of risk. Various suggestions were made to improve IPC practices within the work environment, including reducing unnecessary exposure through public education and remote triage improvements. Some participants’ poor experiences of escalating IPC practices were shared with health care workers studied in other environments and in previous epidemics, emphasising the need for lessons to be learnt. PPE should be developed with consideration of ambulance staff’s unique working environment and regular familiarisation training could be beneficial. Pragmatic, evidence-based, clearly communicated policies implemented with sufficient resources may protect staff and facilitate them to maintain standards of care delivery during a pandemic.
家人的呼救让穿戴个人防护设备变得非常困难"。英国救护车工作人员在 COVID-19 大流行期间的感染预防和控制实践经验定性研究
在英国 COVID-19 大流行的第一波期间,救护人员在继续提供直接病人护理的同时,还要适应不断发展的感染预防和控制 (IPC) 实践的大幅升级。为了使学习有利于未来规划,这篇定性文章旨在描述救护人员在这种快速升级的 IPC 实践中的经历。在英国第一波大流行(2020 年)的加速、高峰和减速阶段,共进行了三次在线调查。总体而言,18 个问题共收集了 14,237 条自由文本回复,我们采用归纳式主题分析法对这些回复进行了描述性和解释性研究。许多参与者对与使用个人防护设备 (PPE) 相关的政策缺乏信心,因为他们认为这些政策缺乏足够的支持证据、沟通混乱以及对相关项目不太熟悉。对政策的遵守和使用个人防护设备的信心还受到不适感、紧迫感和风险感的影响。与会者就如何改进工作环境中的 IPC 实践提出了各种建议,包括通过公众教育和远程分流来减少不必要的接触。一些与会者与在其他环境和以往流行病中学习过的医护人员分享了升级 IPC 实践的不良经验,强调需要吸取教训。在开发个人防护设备时应考虑到救护人员独特的工作环境,定期开展熟悉情况的培训可能会有所帮助。务实、以证据为基础、明确传达的政策以及充足的资源可以保护工作人员,并帮助他们在大流行期间保持护理服务的标准。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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来源期刊
Journal of Infection Prevention
Journal of Infection Prevention Nursing-Advanced and Specialized Nursing
CiteScore
1.70
自引率
8.30%
发文量
46
期刊介绍: Journal of Infection Prevention is the professional publication of the Infection Prevention Society. The aim of the journal is to advance the evidence base in infection prevention and control, and to provide a publishing platform for all health professionals interested in this field of practice. Journal of Infection Prevention is a bi-monthly peer-reviewed publication containing a wide range of articles: ·Original primary research studies ·Qualitative and quantitative studies ·Reviews of the evidence on various topics ·Practice development project reports ·Guidelines for practice ·Case studies ·Overviews of infectious diseases and their causative organisms ·Audit and surveillance studies/projects
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