Emergent themes from a quality improvement programme for CLABSI/CAUTI prevention in ICUs amid the Covid-19 pandemic (21 November 2022)

Summary

Healthcare-associated infection (HAI) prevention has been difficult for healthcare providers to maintain during the Covid-19 pandemic. This study summarises themes for maintaining infection prevention activities learnt from the implementation of a quality improvement (QI) programme in intensive care units (ICUs) during the pandemic. The authors of the study conducted qualitative analysis of participants’ semi-structured exit interviews, self-assessments on HAI prevention activities, participant-created action plans, chat-box discussions during webinars and informal correspondence.

The study identified four themes for successful maintenance of infection prevention activities during the pandemic:

• the value of a pre-existing infection prevention infrastructure
• flexibility in approach
• broad buy-in for maintaining QI programmes
• the facilitation of idea-sharing.