No abstract

This study was conducted to increase the frequency and level of thoroughness of hand hygiene practice by nurses, and to assess the influence of the methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) acquired incidence rate and the MRSA colonization pressure in a medical intensive care unit (MICU). A total of 24 MICU nurses received hand hygiene education and individual feedback of hand hygiene frequency and method after a session of education, and two posteducation evaluations were followed. The frequency of hand hygiene (P = 0.001) and the methodology score of hand hygiene increased significantly (P = 0.001). The MRSA acquisition rate decreased significantly, from 11.1% before the education to 0% after (P = 0.014). The MRSA colonization pressure decreased significantly from 39.5% to 8.6% after the education sessions (P = 0.001). This indicates that providing individual feedback after hand hygiene education was very effective in increasing nurses' hand hygiene frequency and improving hand hygiene method; furthermore, it was expected to decrease health care-associated infections.

This study was aimed to test the association between schizophrenia and a functional serotonin polymorphism (5-HTTLPR) in the upstream regulatory region. Genomic DNA analysis with polymerase chain reaction was used for 5-HTTLPR genotyping. One hundred and eleven patients with schizophrenia and 208 healthy individuals participated in this study. There were significant differences in the negative score and general psychopathology score of the positive and negative syndrome scale according to 5-HTTLPR genotypes and alleles, although no significant differences in allele or genotype frequencies between the two groups were found. These results suggest that 5-HTTLPR may contribute to the susceptibility to the symptomatology of schizophrenia but not to the development of the disorder itself, at least in the Korean population.

Purpose: This study was conducted to identify endotracheal colonization and the incidence of ventilator-associated pneumonia related to the type of endotracheal suction system. Methods: The participants in this study were ICU patients hospitalized between October 2009 to March 2010 who used ventilators for over 48 hr with closed (CSS, n= 30) or open (OSS, n= 32) suction systems. To standardize the pre-intervention suction system, a suctioning protocol was taught to the ICU nurses. Collected data were analyzed using χ 2 -test, Fisher's exact test, Wilcoxon rank sums test, Wilcoxon test, Log-rank test and Poisson regression. Results: Endotracheal colonization was higher in OSS than CSS from day 1 to day 8 while using a ventilator and there was a significant difference between the two groups. The CSS reached 50% of endotracheal colonization by the 4th day, whereas for the OSS, it was the 2nd day (p= .04). The incidence of ventilator-associated pneumonia showed no significant difference. Conclusion: For patients with a high risk of pneumonia, CSS must be used to lower endotracheal colonization.

The objective of this study was to estimate the peripherally inserted central catheter (PICC) insertion depth in newborns. We retrospectively reviewed the records of 790 neonates who underwent PICC insertion for intravenous injections administered for 6 days or more following neonatal intensive care unit admission at our institution between January 2011 and October 2015. We analyzed patients' electronic medical records and chest standard radiographs. PICC insertion depths were calculated using the following equation: Insertion depth = Section + (β 1 × Body weight). The predicted equation was checked for accuracy using Bland-Altman plots. Of 835 included neonates, 790 (94.6%) had properly positioned PICCs. Forty-three of 45 unsuitable