Comparative characteristic of antimicrobial resistance in geriatric hospital: a retrospective cohort study

'I decided to attend to him because it's my duty': Student Nurses perception and attitude towards care of older adults

BACKGROUND AND AIM

Nurses perception and attitude towards an older patient can positively or negatively influence the quality rendered. As students under training, the views of this population needs to be sought and shaped to improve the quality of care the older patients receive. This is because life expectancy is on the rise. The study aimed to explore students' perception of ageing and their attitude towards care of the older adults.

METHODS AND MATERIALS

An exploratory descriptive design was used. Data form containing the sociodemographic attributes of the students and a semi-structured interview form developed by the researchers in line with the literature. The participants interviewed were student nurses who had been in clinical practice for at least one semester. Four focus group discussions (FGD) were held.

RESULTS

Average age of the participants was 22.30 years. An equal number of males and females (15 each) were recruited to have a balance in gender. Students expressed that they saw the older adults as their grandparents so they try to accord them respect and care. However, older adults are perceived not receptive to nurses in training. The students stated that registered nurses neglected the basic care of older adults such as diaper changes, bathing, and feeding, and would rather beckon student nurses to attend to the older adults.

CONCLUSION

Gerontology as a stand-alone course is necessary for early years of training to give an in-depth education to nursing students and instil a positive attitude towards older adult patients.

The impact of intensive staff education on rate of Clostridium difficile-associated disease in hospitalized geriatric patients

BACKGROUND

Toxin-producing Clostridium difficile is the most common cause of nosocomial diarrhea in geriatric units.

AIM

The purpose of study was to check the impact of intensive staff education on rate of Clostridium difficile-associated disease in hospitalized geriatric patients.

METHODS

The sampling frame was all patients suffering from diarrhea checked for Clostridium difficile toxin during the years 2017-2018. Clostridium difficile-positive patients were compared to a similar number of Clostridium difficile toxin-negative patients. The data were compared to our previous study, followed by medical staff's educational program for Clostridium difficile control and prevention.

RESULTS

Among 217 patients with diarrhea, 60 (27.6%) were positive for Clostridium difficile toxin. The study group tended to be of older age (p = 0.06), and showed higher rate of functional impairment (p < 0.001) and mortality (p < 0.001) than Clostridium difficile toxin negative patients. The rate of Clostridium difficile toxin-positive patients did not significantly differ between the previous and current studies (20.0% and 27.6%, respectively).

CONCLUSIONS AND DISCUSSION

In spite of findings, that patients tended to be older, with high rate of mortality, the rate of Clostridium difficile did not change from the previous study.

Antimicrobial resistance patterns of urine culture specimens from 27 nursing homes: Impact of a two-year antimicrobial stewardship intervention

Objective:

Identify changes in the prevalence and antimicrobial resistance patterns of potentially pathogenic bacteria in urine cultures during a 2-year antimicrobial stewardship intervention program in nursing homes (NHs).

Design:

Before-and-after intervention study.

Setting:

The study included 27 NHs in North Carolina.

Methods:

We audited all urine cultures ordered before and during an antimicrobial stewardship intervention. Analyses compared culture rates, culture positive rates, and pathogen antimicrobial resistance patterns.

Results:

Of 6,718 total urine cultures collected, 68% were positive for potentially pathogenic bacteria. During the intervention, significant reductions in the urine culture and positive culture rates were observed (P= .014). Most of the identified potentially uropathogenic isolates wereEscherichia coli(38%),Proteusspp (13%), andKlebsiella pneumoniae(12%). A significant decrease was observed during the intervention period in nitrofurantoin resistance amongE. coli(P≤ .001) and ciprofloxacin resistance amongProteusspp (P≤ .001); however carbapenem resistance increased forProteusspp (P≤ .001). Multidrug resistance also increased forProteusspp compared to the baseline. The high baseline resistance ofE. colito the commonly prescribed antimicrobials ciprofloxacin and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP/SMX) did not change during the intervention.

Conclusions:

The antimicrobial stewardship intervention program significantly reduced urine culture and culture-positive rates. Overall, very high proportions of antimicrobial resistance were observed among common pathogens; however, antimicrobial resistance trended downward but reductions were too small and scattered to conclude that the intervention significantly changed antimicrobial resistance. Longer intervention periods may be needed to effect change in resistance patterns.