Identifying urinary tract infections and nursing home acquired pneumonia in long-term care
Investigators
Patrick Quail, Syeda Ahmed, Marta Shaw, Sarah Perry, Marianna Hofmeister, Neil Drummond
Contact
Marta Shaw at info@sapcren.ca, 403.210.9259
Funding
Intercare Foundation
Progress
Manuscript Published
P. Quail ; S.a. Ahmed ; M. Shaw ; S. Parry ; M. Hofmeister ; N. Drummond (2015): Effectiveness of a health care aide educational intervention to improve recognition of urinary tract infection and nursing home acquired pneumonia symptoms in Long-Term Care Facilities: A pre-post intervention trial ; Jour Nursing Home Res 2015;1:62-65. DOI :10.14283/jnhrs.2015.11
Abstract
Objectives: To implement and evaluate a targeted training initiative for care aides with the aim of improving recognition and reporting of early symptoms of Nursing Home Acquired Pneumonia (NHAP) and Urinary Tract Infection (UTI).
Design: Pre-post, non-randomized, intervention trial design with care aides and residents.
Setting: Three long-term care facilities: one site implemented the intervention and two maintained normal practices and procedures. Intervention: A nurse-led educational intervention and tool kit were delivered to health care aides to improve recognition and reporting of subtle behavioral or physiological changes in residents, which may be indicative of NHAP and UTI.
Measurements: Paired t-tests were used to compare scores on questionnaires completed by care aides at baseline, immediately post-intervention and 3 months later, to identify their knowledge of UTI and NHAP symptoms, their perceptions of the professional relationships between care aides and members of other professions, and on workload. Resident charts were also reviewed.
Results: Significant changes in NHAP symptom recognition were found for the intervention group between baseline (M = 2.45, SD = 1.18) and the three month follow-up (M = 2.94, SD = 1.34); t(31) = -2.05, p = .049. There was a significant increase in UTI symptom recognition scores for the intervention group between baseline (M = 2.20, SD = 1.18), immediately post-intervention (M = 2.80, SD = 1.05); t(35) = -3.34, p = .002 and after three months (M = 3.88, SD = 1.83); t(25) = -3.73, p = .001.
Conclusion: A simple and inexpensive educational intervention among care aides may improve their recognition of UTI symptoms in residents in LTC.
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