How clinicians manage routinely low supplies of personal protective equipment.

Autor: Ridge LJ; Department of Systems, Population and Leadership, University of Michigan School of Nursing, Ann Arbor, MI. Electronic address: ljridge@umich.edu., Stimpfel AW; New York University Rory Meyers College of Nursing, New York City, NY., Dickson VV; New York University Rory Meyers College of Nursing, New York City, NY., Klar RT; New York University Rory Meyers College of Nursing, New York City, NY., Squires AP; New York University Rory Meyers College of Nursing, New York City, NY.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: American journal of infection control [Am J Infect Control] 2021 Dec; Vol. 49 (12), pp. 1488-1492. Date of Electronic Publication: 2021 Aug 18.
DOI: 10.1016/j.ajic.2021.08.012
Abstrakt: Background: Recommended personal protective equipment (PPE) is routinely limited or unavailable in low-income countries, but there is limited research as to how clinicians adapt to that scarcity, despite the implications for patients and workers.
Methods: This is a qualitative secondary analysis of case study data collected in Liberia in 2019. Data from the parent study were included in this analysis if it addressed availability and use of PPE in the clinical setting. Conventional content analysis was used on data including: field notes documenting nurse practice, semi-structured interview transcripts, and photographs.
Results: Data from the majority of participants (32/37) and all facilities (12/12) in the parent studies were included. Eighty-three percent of facilities reported limited PPE. Five management strategies for coping with limited PPE supplies were observed, reported, or both: rationing PPE, self-purchasing PPE, asking patients to purchase PPE, substituting PPE, and working without PPE. Approaches to rationing PPE included using PPE only for symptomatic patients or not performing physical exams. Substitutions for PPE were based on supply availability.
Conclusions: Strategies developed by clinicians to manage low PPE likely have negative consequences for both workers and patients; further research into the topic is important, as is better PPE provision in low-income countries.
(Copyright © 2021 Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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