Other Titles
Using Research to Promote Outcomes
Abstract
Session presented on Monday, July 28, 2014: Purpose: This work originated in a small community hospital who committed to achieving Magnet designation. As part of this commitment, an identified need was to develop a means to promote and support nursing research in our organization which did not have any university affiliations. Our Magnet Journey was successful, and this presentation reflects work done by one of our first direct care staff nurses with the support of the nursing research committee. Contact precaution policy requires healthcare personnel to always put on Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) before entering a contact precaution room. Although instituted to prevent hospital-acquired infections (HCAIs), this process takes a significant amount of time, causing delays that produce patient anxiety, frustration and dissatisfaction with care. Research shows that health care workers spend less time with patients in isolation. Contact precautions decrease the quality and frequency of interactions provided by staff to patients and decrease compliance with precaution policies. There is significant cost associated with the use of PPE. Previous research has shown that contact precautions can be modified to promote interaction between patients and care givers without increasing the risk of spreading HCAIs. A previous study conducted by Trinity Regional Medical Center, a Magnet Hospital in Illinois, showed that a 'Safe Zone' created at the contact precaution room doorway allowed staff to safely enter a short distance into the room without putting on PPE for the purpose of interacting with the patient. The objectives included to evaluate the effects of 'The Red Box Strategy' for contact precautions on patient and healthcare giver satisfaction with the contact precaution process, healthcare giver compliance with personal protective equipment (PPE), and potential cost savings of personal protective equipment. Methods: Likert Survey was performed for patient and healthcare giver satisfaction of contact precautions before and after instituting 'The Red Box Strategy'. A Mann-Whitney test for independent samples was performed to examine the relationship between satisfaction of the contact precaution process before and after instituting 'The Red Box Strategy'. Data collection was performed on personal protective equipment compliance of 4 different caregiver types on hand hygiene, gowns, and gloves before and after instituting 'The Red Box Strategy'. A Chi-Square test was performed to examine the relationship between compliance with the contact precautions process before and after implementing 'The Red Box Strategy'. The frequency of the use of 'The Red Box Strategy' by caregivers was measured and the potential cost savings of gowns was estimated. Results: A statistically significant relationship was found between pre and post implementation survey responses. Patient and healthcare giver satisfaction increased for contact precautions after ' The Red Box Strategy was implemented. A statistically significant relationship was found for all aspects of PPE measured for compliance when 'The Red Box Strategy' was used for contact precautions by RN's, LNA's, and RT's. A statistically significant relationship was found for hand hygiene compliance upon entering a room for MD's but not for hand hygiene out, gown on and tied and gloves worn for MD type. For all healthcare giver types hand hygiene compliance for entering a room increased 32%, hand hygiene compliance when exiting a room increased 11%, gowns on and tied increased 16%, and gloves worn increased 4%. Data collected for evaluating 'The Red Box Strategy' affect on potential cost savings was insufficient to analyze, so further analysis of the data is being undertaken.'Conclusion: Using 'The Red Box Strategy' increased patient and caregiver satisfaction with the contact precaution process. The strategy increases compliance for many aspects of PPE for most caregiver types. The exceptions to this were no relationship was found between the strategy and MD compliance with hand hygiene upon room exit, gown and gloves worn. 'The Red Box Strategy' staying power demonstrated consistency with the trial's findings, with compliance rates holding at 6 months post implementation.
Sigma Membership
Unknown
Type
Presentation
Format Type
Text-based Document
Study Design/Type
N/A
Research Approach
N/A
Keywords:
Red Box Strategy, Infection Prevention, Direct Care Nursing Research
Recommended Citation
Pollard, Melissa A. and Wickens, Kathleen, "The Red Box Strategy for Contact Precautions" (2014). INRC (Congress). 357.
https://www.sigmarepository.org/inrc/2014/presentations_2014/357
Conference Name
25th International Nursing Research Congress
Conference Host
Sigma Theta Tau International
Conference Location
Hong Kong
Conference Year
2014
Rights Holder
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Acquisition
Proxy-submission
The Red Box Strategy for Contact Precautions
Hong Kong
Session presented on Monday, July 28, 2014: Purpose: This work originated in a small community hospital who committed to achieving Magnet designation. As part of this commitment, an identified need was to develop a means to promote and support nursing research in our organization which did not have any university affiliations. Our Magnet Journey was successful, and this presentation reflects work done by one of our first direct care staff nurses with the support of the nursing research committee. Contact precaution policy requires healthcare personnel to always put on Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) before entering a contact precaution room. Although instituted to prevent hospital-acquired infections (HCAIs), this process takes a significant amount of time, causing delays that produce patient anxiety, frustration and dissatisfaction with care. Research shows that health care workers spend less time with patients in isolation. Contact precautions decrease the quality and frequency of interactions provided by staff to patients and decrease compliance with precaution policies. There is significant cost associated with the use of PPE. Previous research has shown that contact precautions can be modified to promote interaction between patients and care givers without increasing the risk of spreading HCAIs. A previous study conducted by Trinity Regional Medical Center, a Magnet Hospital in Illinois, showed that a 'Safe Zone' created at the contact precaution room doorway allowed staff to safely enter a short distance into the room without putting on PPE for the purpose of interacting with the patient. The objectives included to evaluate the effects of 'The Red Box Strategy' for contact precautions on patient and healthcare giver satisfaction with the contact precaution process, healthcare giver compliance with personal protective equipment (PPE), and potential cost savings of personal protective equipment. Methods: Likert Survey was performed for patient and healthcare giver satisfaction of contact precautions before and after instituting 'The Red Box Strategy'. A Mann-Whitney test for independent samples was performed to examine the relationship between satisfaction of the contact precaution process before and after instituting 'The Red Box Strategy'. Data collection was performed on personal protective equipment compliance of 4 different caregiver types on hand hygiene, gowns, and gloves before and after instituting 'The Red Box Strategy'. A Chi-Square test was performed to examine the relationship between compliance with the contact precautions process before and after implementing 'The Red Box Strategy'. The frequency of the use of 'The Red Box Strategy' by caregivers was measured and the potential cost savings of gowns was estimated. Results: A statistically significant relationship was found between pre and post implementation survey responses. Patient and healthcare giver satisfaction increased for contact precautions after ' The Red Box Strategy was implemented. A statistically significant relationship was found for all aspects of PPE measured for compliance when 'The Red Box Strategy' was used for contact precautions by RN's, LNA's, and RT's. A statistically significant relationship was found for hand hygiene compliance upon entering a room for MD's but not for hand hygiene out, gown on and tied and gloves worn for MD type. For all healthcare giver types hand hygiene compliance for entering a room increased 32%, hand hygiene compliance when exiting a room increased 11%, gowns on and tied increased 16%, and gloves worn increased 4%. Data collected for evaluating 'The Red Box Strategy' affect on potential cost savings was insufficient to analyze, so further analysis of the data is being undertaken.'Conclusion: Using 'The Red Box Strategy' increased patient and caregiver satisfaction with the contact precaution process. The strategy increases compliance for many aspects of PPE for most caregiver types. The exceptions to this were no relationship was found between the strategy and MD compliance with hand hygiene upon room exit, gown and gloves worn. 'The Red Box Strategy' staying power demonstrated consistency with the trial's findings, with compliance rates holding at 6 months post implementation.