‘Transmission Based Precautions- who, what, when and why? All in one place

Mrs Nicola Isles¹

¹Healthscope, Melbourne , Australia

Background

Patients are often placed under Transmission Based Precautions (TBP) with a history of MRO (Multi– resistant Organism),  recent gastrointestinal or respiratory illness. Pathology samples aren’t collected and patients remain in TBP for days without a review of the indication. This is costly to the health care facility, use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), single rooms, staff time, extra cleaning, the patient feeling isolated with limited interaction from staff and visitors and poor patient satisfaction and outcomes.

Method

The Healthscope Infection Prevention Control Committee project aimed to consolidate all this information in one place in the patients notes – ‘summary sticker’, to be it is clearly visible to all Healthcare Workers involved in the patients care . Consultation and feedback was sought from all 42 sites and implemented in October 2020.

Results

Staff – prompted to add alerts in files and electronic medical record, complete and review pathology tests, policies accessed to review clearance criteria, removal of TBP and staff increased knowledge of Infection Prevention and Control.

Patients – Educational material e.g. brochures for MRSA (Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus, Vancomycin resistant Enterococci, Clostridium difficile and carbapenemase—producing Enterobacterales)   given in a more timely manner to patients and carers and patients are more engaged in their care.

Further feedback will be sought from all sites in November 2021.

Conclusion

Staff feedback is patients are spending an average of 24-36 hours less in TBP and both the patient and the staff feel more engaged in the Infection Prevention and Control Management of TBP.

Biography:

Nicola is a credentialed Infection Prevention and Control Professional and has worked in Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) for over 20 years in both the public and private acute care  and  mental health.

More recently appointed as Healthscopes National Infection Prevention, Control and Radiation Safety Manager  responsible for IPC at 42 hospitals throughout Australia. She has a keen interest in promoting positive patient experience and outcomes and in vascular access research