Impact of infection prevention and control training on health facilities during the Ebola virus disease outbreak in Guinea

Abstract

BackgroundIn 2014–2016, West Africa faced the most deadly Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) outbreak in history. A key strategy to overcome this outbreak was continual staff training in Infection Prevention and Control (IPC), with a focus on Ebola. This research aimed to evaluate the impact of IPC training and the quality of IPC performance in health care facilities of one municipality of Conakry, Guinea.MethodsThis study was conducted in February 2016. All health facilities within Ratoma municipality, Conakry, Guinea, were evaluated based on IPC performance standards developed by the Guinean Ministry of Health. The IPC performance of healthcare facilities was categorised into high or low IPC scores based on the median IPC score of the sample. The Mantel-Haenzsel method and logistic regression were used for statistical analysis.ResultsTwenty-five percent of health centres had one IPC-trained worker, 53% had at least two IPC-trained workers, and 22% of health centres had no IPC-trained workers. An IPC score above median was positively associated with the number of trained staff; health centres with two or more IPC-trained workers were eight times as likely to have an IPC score above median, while those with one IPC-trained worker were four times as likely, compared to centres with no trained workers. Health centres that implemented IPC cascade training to untrained medical staff were five times as likely to have an IPC score above median.ConclusionsThis research highlights the importance of training healthcare staff in IPC and organising regular cascade trainings. IPC strategies implemented during the outbreak should continue to be reinforced for the better health of patients and medical staff, and be considered a key factor in any outbreak response.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12889-018-5444-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Knowledge, attitudes and practices towards viral haemorrhagic fevers amongst healthcare workers in urban and rural public healthcare facilities in the N’zérékoré prefecture, Guinea: a cross-sectional study

“…As previous Ebola-related KAP surveys amongst HCW in Guinea during the EVD epidemic, we identified IPC training needs with regards to reported IPC training status and the described deficiencies in practices. The EVD epidemic has generated widespread awareness of the disease and left many HCW in the country with IPC training who had been without before [25][26][27]. Despite the increased post-Ebola efforts to improve IPC performance and VHF awareness in healthcare facilities, our study hints at a gap in IPC training in the N'zérékoré region, especially in rural areas.…”

Views on Workplace Policies and its Impact on Health-Related Quality of Life During Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Pandemic: Cross-Sectional Survey of Employees

“…Singapore has been discussing the implementation and intensification of social distancing measures, including staff working at staggered hours and setting up telecommuting office to deal with the possible COVID-19 outbreak. 22 A considerable amount of time is need for implementing social distancing measure that would restructure the organization culture and the local context of the society as the situation evolves. Without the government's top-down policy, socially irresponsible behaviours may pose a risk to all.…”

Workplace safety and coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic: survey of employees

“…The distribution of respondents in 11 industrial fields were also not proportional to the distribution in HK working population with less in 'retail, accommodation and food services' and 'financing, insurance, real estate, professional and business service' but more in 'pubic administration, social work activities and personal service'. 17 Thus, the second limitation involving overall self-reported stress and views towards workplace policies and protective practices are possibly underestimated in our study shows. Despite these limitations, our study provides important insight into existing shortcomings in workplace policy at macro-and micro-levels among the employee for international reference so as to mitigate the possible outbreak of COVID-19 at workplaces.…”

“…12 As indicated by previous surveys of infectious diseases during epidemics, infection control training is important to increase awareness and improve the personal hygiene performance. [17][18][19][20][21] Our study has two main limitations. First, our results are based on a non-probabilistic sampling strategy.…”