BackgroundAlthough alcohol-based surgical hand preparation offers potential advantages over the traditional surgical scrubbing technique, implementing it may be challenging due to resistance of surgeons in changing their practice. We aimed to implement alcohol-based surgical hand preparation in the hospital setting evaluating the impact of that on the quality and duration of the procedure, as well as on the prevention of surgical site infections.MethodsA quasi-experimental study conducted at a tertiary-care university hospital from April 01 to November 01, 2017. Participants were cardiac and orthopedic surgical teams (n = 56) and patients operated by them (n = 231). Intervention consisted of making alcohol-based handrub available in the operating room, convincing and training surgical teams for using it, promoting direct observation of surgical hand preparation, and providing aggregated feedback on the quality of the preparation. The primary study outcome was the quality of the surgical hand preparation, inferred by the compliance with each one of the steps predicted in the World Health Organization (WHO) technique, evaluated through direct observation. Secondary study outcome was the patient’s individual probability of developing surgical site infection in both study periods. We used the Wilcoxon for paired samples and McNemar’s test to assess the primary study outcome and we build a logistic regression model to assess the secondary outcome.ResultsWe observed 534 surgical hand preparation events. Among 33 participants with full data available for both study periods, we observed full compliance with all the steps predicted in the WHO technique in 0.03% (1/33) of them in the pre-intervention period and in 36.36% (12/33) of them in the intervention period (OR:12.0, 95% CI: 2. 4-59.2, p = 0.002). Compared to the pre-intervention period, the intervention reduced the duration of the preparation (4.8 min vs 2.7 min, respectively; p < 0.001). The individual risk of developing a surgical site infection did not significantly change between the pre-intervention and the intervention phase (Adjusted RR = 0.66; 95% CI 0. 16-2.70, p = 0.563).ConclusionOur results demonstrate that, when compared to the traditional surgical scrub, alcohol-based surgical hand preparation improves the quality and reduces the duration of the preparation, being at least equally effective for the prevention of surgical site infections.

Objective: to verify if the nursing workload is a predictor of mortality at an Intensive Care Unit.Method: cross-sectional and retrospective documentary study, developed at the Intensive Care Unit of a tertiary university hospital. The Receiver Operator Characteristic Curve was used, consisting of the Nursing Activities Score and the APACHE severity score, using logistic regression to analyze the prediction of mortality.Results: the sample included 324 patients, 214 (66%) of whom survived. The mean Nursing Activities Score during the first 24 hours of hospitalization was 79.3 points, ranging from 34.8 to 134.2 points, and the median APACHE II was 24.5 (2-42). In the analysis of the Receiver Operator Characteristic Curve, the Nursing Activities Score evidenced an area under the curve corresponding to 0.626; CI between 0.570 and 0.678 and an APACHE II score of 0.721, with a 95% confidence interval from 0.669 to 0.769.Conclusion: the nursing workload did not serve as a mortality predictor at the Intensive Care Unit, as the patients who demand the main nursing workload are not necessarily the patients who evolve to death. RESUMOObjetivo: verificar se a carga de trabalho de enfermagem é um preditor de mortalidade em Unidade de Terapia Intensiva.Método: estudo documental, retrospectivo, corte transversal, desenvolvido na Unidade de Terapia Intensiva de um hospital universitário terciário. Utilizou-se a curva Receiver Operator Characteristic Curve composta pelo Nursing Activities Score e índice de gravidade APACHE e regressão logística para análise da predição de mortalidade.Resultados: compuseram a amostra 324 pacientes, sendo 214 (66%) sobreviventes. A média Nursing Activities Score das primeiras 24 horas de internação foi de 79,3 pontos, variando de 34,8 a 134,2 pontos e o APACHE II mediano foi 24,5 (2-42). Na análise da curva Receiver Operator Characteristic Curve o Nursing Activities Score evidenciou uma área sobre a curva de 0,626; IC 0,570 a 0,678 e o APACHE II de 0,721 com intervalo de confiança IC 95% de 0,669 a 0,769.Conclusão: a carga de trabalho de enfermagem não foi um preditor de mortalidade em Unidade de Terapia Intensiva, pois os pacientes que demandam a maior carga de trabalho de enfermagem não necessariamente são aqueles que evoluem para o óbito. DESCRITORES: Carga de trabalho. Recursos humanos de enfermagem. Unidades de Terapia Intensiva. Mortalidade. Índice de gravidade de doença. RESUMENObjetivo: verificar si la carga de trabajo de enfermería es um como predictor de mortalidad en Unidad de Terapia Intensiva.Método: estudio documental, retrospectivo, corte transversal, desarrollado en la Unidad de Terapia Intensiva de un hospital universitario terciario. Se utilizó la curva Receiver Operator Characteristic Curve compuesta por el Nursing Activity Score y índice de gravedad APACHE y regresión logística para análisis de la predicción de mortalidad.Resultados: compusieron la muestra 324 pacientes, siendo 214 (66%) sobrevivientes. El promedio Nursing Activities Score de las primeras 24 horas de internació...

BackgroundThe aim of this study was to identify factors associated with pressure injury (PI) occurrence in critically ill patients. This was a retrospective cohort study conducted at a mixed intensive care unit (ICU).MethodsUnivariate analysis and logistic regression were used to identify which variables are associated with PI.ResultsTwenty-one (15%) of 142 patients developed PI. The median and the range of the variables in the groups without and with PI were as follows: Braden scale risk score, 13 (8 - 20) and 10 (8 - 14) points, respectively; Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE II) death risk, 39% (2 - 97%) and 75% (26 - 96%), respectively; and length of stay in the ICU, 4 (2 - 36) and 16 (5 - 29) days, respectively. The socio-demographic variables included in the logistic regression were age (P = 0.09), Braden scale risk score (P = 0.0003), APACHE II death risk (P < 0.0001), length of stay in the ICU (P < 0.0001) and reason for ICU admission (P = 0.09). Only APACHE II death risk and length of stay in the ICU presented significant differences; the odds ratios were 1.05 and 1.25, respectively, and the 95% confidence intervals were 1.01 - 1.09 and 1.12 - 1.39, respectively.ConclusionAPACHE II death risk and length of stay in the ICU are probably associated with PI occurrence in the study population.