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Preventing Respiratory Viral Transmission in Long-Term Care: Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices of Healthcare Personnel

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 November 2017

Caroline A. O’Neil ,
Lindsay Kim ,
Mila M. Prill ,
Nimalie D. Stone ,
Shikha Garg ,
H. Keipp Talbot  and
Hilary M. Babcock
Caroline A. O’Neil*
Affiliation:
Infectious Diseases Division, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, Missouri
Lindsay Kim
Affiliation:
Division of Viral Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia
Mila M. Prill
Affiliation:
Division of Viral Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia
Nimalie D. Stone
Affiliation:
Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia
Shikha Garg
Affiliation:
Influenza Division, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia
H. Keipp Talbot
Affiliation:
Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee
Hilary M. Babcock
Affiliation:
Infectious Diseases Division, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, Missouri
*
Address correspondence to Caroline O’Neil, Infectious Diseases Division, Washington University School of Medicine, 4523 Clayton Ave, Box 8051, St Louis, MO 63110 (o’neil.c@wustl.edu).
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Abstract

OBJECTIVE

To examine knowledge and attitudes about influenza vaccination and infection prevention practices among healthcare personnel (HCP) in a long-term-care (LTC) setting.

DESIGN

Knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) survey.

SETTING

An LTC facility in St Louis, Missouri.

PARTICIPANTS

All HCP working at the LTC facility were eligible to participate, regardless of department or position. Of 170 full- and part-time HCP working at the facility, 73 completed the survey, a 42.9% response rate.

RESULTS

Most HCP agreed that respiratory viral infections were serious and that hand hygiene and face mask use were protective. However, only 46% could describe the correct transmission-based precautions for an influenza patient. Correctly answering infection prevention knowledge questions did not vary by years of experience but did vary for HCP with more direct patient contact versus less patient contact. Furthermore, 42% of respondents reported working while sick, and 56% reported that their coworkers did. In addition, 54% reported that facility policies made staying home while ill difficult. Some respondents expressed concerns about the safety (22%) and effectiveness (27%) of the influenza vaccine, and 28% of respondents stated that they would not get the influenza vaccine if it was not required.

CONCLUSIONS

This survey of staff in an LTC facility identified several areas for policy improvement, particularly sick leave, as well as potential targets for interventions to improve infection prevention knowledge and to address HCP concerns about influenza vaccination to improve HCP vaccination rates in LTCs.

Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2017;38:1449–1456

Type
Original Articles
Information
Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology , Volume 38 , Issue 12 , December 2017 , pp. 1449 - 1456
Copyright
© 2017 by The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America. All rights reserved 

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