Family Experiences and Perspectives on Infection Prevention in Pediatric Long-Term Care.
Sibyl Wilmont, Amanda J Hessels, Ana M Kelly and 1 others
PMID 30395556WHAT IT FOUND
Families of medically complex children in pediatric long-term care believed staff and visitors were preventing infections well, yet most said their child had become infected.
They described little formal training and relied on informal staff reminders.
Key findings
01All but one participant reported that their child had had an infection at some point during the stay in the facility.
02Participants perceived themselves and facility staff as doing everything humanly possible to protect the children from healthcare-associated infections.
03Participants reported scarce formal infection-prevention education and described ongoing informal communication from staff, primarily nurses, about infection status and precautions.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The authors said qualitative interviews with this small, unique population would not yield generalizable results. Participants were recruited from visitors, so they may represent the most engaged family members rather than less frequent visitors. Interviews were only in English, so non-English-speaking families were not represented. No demographic information was collected, so it is unclear how family roles, education, or health literacy may have shaped responses. Family members may have been reluctant to criticize staff or admit poor infection-prevention practices, and observed behavior did not always match self-report.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest. The paper says the research team's work in this setting has been funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that families' confidence and reported hand hygiene prove infection prevention is working. The study reports perceptions, and most participants said their child had had an infection.