Assignment: Evidence-Based Project, Part 4: Critical Appraisal of Research Critical Appraisal of Research
This paper systematically and carefully examines four studies to determine their relevance, value, and trustworthiness in addressing the issue of HAIs to influence good health outcomes in clinical settings. For nurses to safeguard public health and provide high-quality services, valid and reliable information is needed on what is likely or not likely to harm patients and the approaches to care that represent good value. Assignment: Evidence-Based Project, Part 4: Critical Appraisal of Research.
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The study by Ford & Park (2018) was a clinical guideline based on the review of literature on hand hygiene and handwashing by NICE, WHO and other studies. It outlined the step-by-step guide on how to wash hands using liquid soap and water as the most effective decontamination method to prevent the spread of pathogens in the clinical setting. In the randomized controlled trial by Hovi, Ollgren & Savolainen-Kopra (2017), participants were randomized to two interventions (using alcohol hand-rubs or using water and soap) alongside a control group. All participants later provided weekly self-reported data on RTI and GTI symptoms. Assignment: Evidence-Based Project, Part 4: Critical Appraisal of Research. Handwashing with soap and water (intervention group) was considered the most effective approach that safeguarded the participants from GTI and RTI. However, the self-reported design of the study negatively impacts the reliability, validity and applicability of the findings.
In the observational cross-sectional study by Kingston & Dunne (2018), questionnaires were electronically administered to medical and nursing students whose responses revealed that gaps in knowledge on hand hygiene and handwashing are a potential barrier to deficits in hand hygiene practices and use of ABHRs which has a direct impact on the rates of HAIs. Halm & Sandau (2018) conducted a systematic review which revealed that the perceptions of health workers have an influence on hand hygiene practices. The study recommended that ABHRs reduce bacterial count and causes less irritation to the skin. Assignment: Evidence-Based Project, Part 4: Critical Appraisal of Research.
The above studies efficiently address the clinical practice issue of this EBP project and suggest that routine hand hygiene with soap and water is the most effective decontamination method to reduce the spread of pathogens and rates of HAIs in the clinical setting.
References
Ford, C., & Park, L. J. (2018). Hand hygiene and handwashing: key to preventing the transfer of pathogens. British Journal of Nursing, 27(20), 1164–1166.