Healthcare-associated infections in adult intensive care units: A multisource study examining nurses’ safety attitudes, quality of care, missed care, and nurse staffing (26 June 2023)

Summary

This study in Intensive and Critical Care Nursing examined the association between safety attitudes, quality of care, missed care, nurse staffing levels and the rate of healthcare-associated infection (HAI) in adult intensive care units (ICUs).

The authors concluded that positive safety culture and better nurse staffing levels can lower the rates of HAIs in ICUs. Improvements to nurse staffing will reduce nursing workloads, which may reduce missed care, increase job satisfaction, and, ultimately, reduce HAIs.

Content

Key findings

• ICUs with strong job satisfaction had lower incidence and nurse-reported frequency of CLABSI, CAUTI, and VAP.
• Missed care was common, with 73.11% of nurses reporting missing at least one required care activity on their last shift.
• The mean patient-to-nurse ratio was 1.95. Increased missed care and higher workload were associated with higher HAIs.
• Nurses’ perceptions of CLABSI and VAP frequency were positively associated with the actual occurrence of CLABSI and VAP in participating units.