Infection Control of Hospital Nurses: Cases of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome

Abstract

Purpose:The 2015 Korean Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) outbreaks resulted in 186 cases, with 8% (15 persons) of these being nurses. This study aimed to examine MERS-CoV infection status of clinical nurses and to evaluate perception for infection control. Methods: We investigated the MERS-CoV infection status of nurses using MERS-CoV press release data. We examined and analysed perception for Infection control of 121 nurses of the three MERS intensive therapeutic hospitals in July 2015. Results: One to six nurses per hospital in total 8 health care facilities were infected with MERS-CoV. They mainly had short clinical careers and were unaware of infection possibility. The personal and organizational infection control levels that nurses perceive were low and the relationship between two levels was statistically significant. Conclusion: For promoting health protection and infectious disease management competency of nurses, it is necessary to prepare institutional system for controlling infectious disease.

Factors influencing nurses' intention to care for patients with emerging infectious diseases: Application of the theory of planned behavior

“…However, the quantity and quality of education are not always proportional, which means training time and frequency might not lead to learners' satisfaction and practical educational effects. A study demonstrated that nurses in MERS intensive therapeutic hospitals believed that training about MERS was insufficient (June & Choi, ). Generally, education focused on information delivery was not effective in reducing fear and increasing nursing intention (Lee, ); however, a clinical simulation training program to prepare to treat EID increased the quality of caring, perceptions of safety, and educational satisfaction (Palamidessi Domínguez et al, ).…”

New Nurses’ Experience of Caring for COVID-19 Patients in South Korea

“…Moreover, because students are not allowed to acquire experience with patients who present a risk of infection during their clinical practice training, most students have no experience with actual infected patients before graduating [ 10 ]. Since infection cases were concentrated in the medical environment during the MERS outbreak in 2015, the risk of infection was high among healthcare workers [ 11 ] and especially high among nurses with little hospital experience [ 12 ]. People in the field emphasized the need for education and training for proper response to emerging infectious diseases [ 13 ], which has also raised the need for the aforementioned systematic education.…”

Identifying and prioritizing resilient health system units to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic

“…[ 15 ] studied the MERS-CoV infection status of clinical nurses to evaluate perception for infection control. They analyzed the perception for infection control of 121 nurses of the three MERS intensive therapeutic hospitals in July 2015.…”