despite having the largest sample size of any clinical trial yet to have examined the effect of cranberry juice ingestion, the actual infection rate observed was lower than anticipated, making the study underpowered. This study has confirmed the acceptability of cranberry juice to older people. Larger trials are now required to determine whether it is effective in reducing UTIs in older hospital patients.
Skin care is an important component of hand hygiene and also infection prevention education programmes relating to hand hygiene (Bissett, 2007a,b). Hand hygiene is the term commonly used to describe hand washing using plain soap or antiseptic soaps and hand rubbing using waterless antiseptic products or alcohol-based products. The importance of effective hand hygiene is well documented (Larson, 1997; Boyce et al, 2002; Horton and Parker, 2002) and can be achieved by following the six-step technique used for hand washing as illustrated by the Royal College of Nursing (2000). During hand washing, hand soaps not only remove soils, but also the natural oils that protect the skin. This can vary depending on the frequency of hand washing, the temperature of the water and the ability of the soap to be rinsed from the surface of the hands (Starobin, 2007). This article aims to examine the evidence available to enable healthcare staff to make an informed decision on the importance of following a skin care regime to reduce the risk of bacterial loading on the hands caused by damaged skin. This would consequently lead to an improvement in hand hygiene efficacy.
A review of the literature indicates that alcohol hand rubs reduce microbial load, are less irritant to the skin of healthcare workers, and are more easily accessible than conventional methods of hand hygiene. The review also indicates that using alcohol hand rub increases compliance to hand hygiene guideline rates by 25%. This study examines whether making alcohol hand rubs readily available to healthcare workers will increase and maintain compliance with hand hygiene protocols and guidelines, thereby reducing nosocomial infection, or whether the methods of staff education on the use and benefits of products and other interventions need to be examined.
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) continues to be a major cause for concern to health boards and trusts through the UK and the rest of the world. A review of literature sourced via Cinahl, Medline and Pubmed examines the discussions for and against screening patients for MRSA and isolating MRSA-positive patients as a means of managing MRSA within the hospital setting. The research evidence available on the ability of MRSA strains to spread within the healthcare setting and how this influences the opposing arguments is explored. Other factors considered when examining the arguments for and against screening and isolation are: the implications both in cost and resources; the effect of MRSA infection on patient morbidity and mortality; and the need for individual risk assessment of MRSA colonized or infected patients to prevent the transmission of MRSA isolates. The arguments raised lead to the conclusion that screening and isolation should be universal to decelerate the rate of transmission of MRSA.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.