Recommendations on specific precautions for companions/visitors of patients hospitalized: characteristics and barriers to implementation

• Autor(a) principal: Geraldin Estequi, Jeanine
• Data de Publicação: 2023
• Outros Autores: Scalon da Costa Perinoti, Lívia Cristina, Sanches Couto, Daniela, de Souza Caliari, Juliano, Maria da Silva Félix, Adriana, Moralez de Figueiredo, Rosely
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng; por
• Título da fonte: Revista de Epidemiologia e Controle de Infecção
• Texto Completo: https://online.unisc.br/seer/index.php/epidemiologia/article/view/18348
• topic: Programa de Control de Infecciones Hospitalarias; Aislamiento de Pacientes; Seguridad del Paciente; Cuidadores; Control de Infecciones; Programa de Controle de Infecção Hospitalar; Isolamento de Pacientes; Segurança do Paciente; Cuidadores; Controle de Infecções; Hospital Infection Control Program; Patient Isolation; Patient Safety; Caregivers; Infection Control

Justification and Objectives: despite the importance of companions/visitors for hospitalized patients under specific precautions, it is noted that risks of exposure and dissemination of microorganisms in health services by this population are still incipient in the literature. Thus, the objective was to characterize the current recommendations on specific precautions for companions and visitors of hospitalized patients and to analyze the barriers to their implementation from infection preventionists’ perspective. Methods: a descriptive and exploratory study with a quantitative approach, with 89 infection preventionists, between March and June 2020. Data collected by electronic questionnaire, “snowball” sampling and analyzed according to frequency of responses. Results: hand hygiene was the most recommended recommendation (>95.0%). As for non-conformities, staying in the room without attire (78.6%), going to other rooms (53.9%) and keeping doors open as aerosol precaution (51.7%) stood out. Regarding the strategies adopted to guide companions/visitors, there was a predominance of individual verbal guidance (92.4%). The main barrier cited was the lack of institutional policy (56.2%). Conclusion: there was no uniformity in the recommendations, and non-conformities and barriers were listed. The importance of specific prevention guidelines for this public and effective educational strategies for its implementation are highlighted.