Interprofessional perceptions of emotional, social, and ethical effects of multidrug-resistant organisms: A qualitative study

Development and evaluation of a nursing educational program: A quasi-experimental study

BACKGROUND

Multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs) are transmitted through the hands of healthcare workers who touch the environments of patients with MDROs. Patients identified as being infected with MDROs are subjected to contact precautions and isolated in a single room. Nurses need to have the correct knowledge of infection prevention and be interested in the psychological conditions of isolated patients with MDROs.

AIM

To develop and evaluation of an education program for nurses to emphasize the psychological care of isolated patients with MDROs.

DESIGN

To evaluate the effectiveness of the educational program, this study employed a quasi-experimental design.

PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING

Seventy-eight nurses working in inpatient wards at four medical facilities were assigned to the program participant group (N = 25) and the non-participant group (N = 53).

METHODS

This experimental study utilized the five steps of the ADDIE instructional model (analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation) to design an educational program. The first step was to identify educational needs. The next steps were to design the program and develop educational materials. In the fourth step, training on infection control measures for MDROs and psychological care for patients with MDROs in isolation was conducted. Finally, in the fifth step, the effectiveness of the educational program was evaluated by scoring on expected behaviors to improve the psychological state of patients in isolation.

RESULTS

The program participants group exhibited behavioral changes and attitudes that observed physiological and psychological responses related to patient anxiety and depression (p < .05).

CONCLUSIONS

The education program increased the understanding of the psychological state of patients with MDROs and the observation of physiological and psychological reactions. This suggests that an education program based on ID is likely to have the potential to change nurses' behavior to improve the quality of care for patients with isolated infections.

The effect of an isolation-coping programme on patients isolated for colonization or infection with multidrug-resistant organisms: a quasi-experimental study

BACKGROUND

The global increase in the prevalence of vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) and carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales (CRE) among multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs) has necessitated contact precaution and isolation in medical institutions. Contact isolation has a negative effect on the mental health of patients, but few interventions have addressed this issue.

AIM

This study evaluated an isolation-coping programme developed for patients colonized or infected with VRE or CRE.

METHODS

To mitigate the negative effects of isolation due to having MDRO, an infection control nurse in the present study 1) developed an isolation-coping programme and 2) validated the programme's effect on the uncertainty, anxiety, depression, and knowledge of patients isolated because of MDRO (VRE or CRE) using a pre-post quasi-experimental design.

FINDINGS

The experimental group (n=56) received education and emotional support via the isolation-coping programme, while the control group (n=55) received only verbal isolation guidelines provided by the medical institution. Compared with the control group, the experimental group showed a reduction in uncertainty (t=-8.925), anxiety (Z=-6.131), and depression (Z=-5.379), and better knowledge (Z=-8.372) (p<.001 for all).

CONCLUSION

The novel isolation-coping programme is an effective intervention to improve uncertainty, anxiety, depression, and knowledge in patients isolated with VRE or CRE.