NUR 550 Topic 7 Assignment: Benchmark – Evidence-Based Practice Project: Literature Review

Benchmark – Evidence-Based Practice Project: Literature Review
Nosocomial infections or hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) affect quality care outcomes for patients and increase the cost of care. Evidence-based practice (EBP) interventions like hand hygiene compliance can reduce the prevalence of hospital-acquired infections, especially among older patients who are 65 years and above (Powell-Jackson et al., 2023). Hand hygiene education program for healthcare providers ensures that they have sufficient information and skills to reduce the prevalence of nosocomial infections among older patients. The evidence-based practice project proposal of hand hygiene to reduce healthcare-associated infections will enhance the care experience for the target patients, and lower longer stays in hospitals. The purpose of this paper is to review the literature supporting the implementation of the intervention based on the developed PICOT question and statement.
PICOT Statement & Question
Hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) are a critical patient safety concern in the healthcare systems with over 1.4 million inpatients getting affected. Additionally, evidence shows that close to 50% of hospital admissions lead to healthcare-acquired infections that increase mortality, comorbidity, and cost of care, and lower the quality of care (Stewart et al., 2023). Hand hygiene measures like washing hands with soap and water and alcohol-based sanitizers can reduce the prevalence of these infections among older patients in inpatient settings. Therefore, nurses must comply with hand hygiene interventions to lower the risk of infections among the target patient population.
PICOT Question
Amongst the inpatient geriatric population aged 65 and above (P), does a hand hygiene education program for healthcare providers (I) compared to no education (C) reduce the rate of spreading HAIs (O) in 3 months (T)?
Search Methods
The literature review entails peer-reviewed articles published within the last five years, implying that they provide the latest and most reliable evidence on the issue under research or consideration. The search strategy entailed using credible databases with keywords or terms and filters. These databases include PubMed, CINAHL, Google Scholar, Science Direct, and the GCU library. The search terms included “nosocomial infections,” “hospital-acquired infections (HAIs),” “geriatric population,” “hand hygiene education program and interventions” “nurses reducing infections,” and “patient safety measures.” The strategy also involved using filters with the Boolean operator “AND” being a critical component of the process. The implication is that the search strategy aimed at getting evidence-based practice (EBP) interventions to reduce nosocomial infections.
Article 1
The first article by Harun et al. (2023) evaluates hand hygiene compliance and associated factors among healthcare workers in certain health settings in Bangladesh. The mixed method study involved ten tertiary hospitals in the country and used the World Health Organization’s 5-moment for hand hygiene tool. Through semi-structured interviews, the authors wanted to identify key barriers to hand hygiene compliance. The findings show that only 25% of healthcare workers complied with hand hygiene measures. The article cites workload, skin reactions, insufficient supplies, and lack of facilities as the main barriers to hand hygiene compliance. The article supports the PICOT as it shows that effective implementation of hand hygiene measures among the population reduces infections and improves patient safety.
Article 2
The article by Kim et al. (2023) focuses on the knowledge of hand hygiene measures, attitudes, and barriers based on occupational groups and strategies to enhance compliance among healthcare workers (HCWs). The quantitative study uses 6048 HCWs in four university-affiliated hospitals in South Korea. The survey instrument entailed seven parts consisting of 49 items with self-reported hand hygiene compliance. The findings show that nurses who reported hand hygiene measures compliance were keen on keeping the practice. Furthermore, the study shows that knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors were essential to attaining the highest compliance rates among nurses. The study also illustrates that nurses were willing and ready to comply with hand hygiene measures to reduce infections among patients. The study and its findings support the PICOT as they demonstrate the efficacy of the selected intervention, hand hygiene compliance. The findings show that hand hygiene compliance among HCWs reduces infections in healthcare settings.
Article 3
Sandbekken et al. (2023) investigated behavioral interventions to enhance hand hygiene measures and compliance among nurses in nursing homes i