Impact of training in clinical sample handling and infection control practices among nurses and other allied health staffs

Joint Event on International Conference on Advanced Nursing & Neonatal Nursing

September 10-11, 2019 | Prague, Czech Republic

Muhammad Aslam

University of Health Sciences, Pakistan

Posters & Accepted Abstracts: J Nurs Care

Abstract :

University of Health Sciences (UHS) in collaboration with Irish Government initiated the training program to strengthen the government hospital of Punjab Province. It is the largest province of Pakistan, and the initial focus was on the 40 hospitals. Out of 25 training programs our focus was on the phlebotomy, safe handling of clinical specimen, quality management (lab) and infection control. It covered around 5,500 hospital staffs including doctors, nurses, medical technologists and technicians. Majority of the participants were nurses which ensure these services in government hospitals. GAP analysis in respective areas was conducted. Initial practices in these hospitals were fragmented and different across different settings of Punjab. The use of EDTA vial alone in blood sample collection, wage quality management of labs and undefined preanalytical stage of sampling were some of the practices. Infection control practices were much improved but set procedures to respond in emergencies of needle stick and biological spills were unclear. The phlebotomy aspect improved the blood collection practices and the selection of different vacutainer according to the tests. Safe handling focused on improving the pre-analytical phase of clinical sampling, adopting uniform labeling criteria across these hospitals which are improving the therapeutic outcomes. Other aspect was to encourage the need for quality program and adopting healthcare related software’s to increase accuracy in reporting and external quality assurance program. The infection control practices strengthen the nurses and other allied health staffs to respond accordingly in emergency situations.