Subtitle/Alternate Title

Bioluminometers Test to Improve Cleaning Efficacy

First Advisor

Patricia Cullen

Second Advisor

Kathleen Whalen

College

Rueckert-Hartman College for Health Professions

Degree Name

Doctor of Nursing Practice

School

Loretto Heights

Document Type

Thesis - Open Access

Number of Pages

83 pages

Abstract

Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) has become the most common microbial cause of healthcareassociated infections (HAI) in U.S. hospitals and costs billions of dollars each year in excess of health care costs for acute care facilities alone (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2015, para. 2). Inadequate cleaning of contaminated surfaces in the hospital environment may lead to an HAI. Potential barriers related to environmental cleaning of C. difficile infected rooms were identified at a small safety net hospital. The investigator used a convenience sample of 12 environmental staff (EVS) and a quasi-experimental pre-posttest design, to explore whether or not an educational intervention with EVS on a new cleaning process and Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) testing would improve environmental staff understanding of the cleaning process, as well as decrease the incidence of C. difficile HAI. Overall, the study supported the use of an educational intervention to improve cleaning efficacy with statistically significant results from the EVS staff educational pre-posttest (t= -2.680, p=.021) and pre-post ATP tests (t=12.520, p=.000). The study site’s C. difficile incidence rates changed from 3.76 to 1.86. The major limitation of this study was the small sample size. The most significant implication of this study is the investigator plans to continue implementing the new cleaning process with follow-up ATP testing, as well as conduct future research to assess other possible risk factors for C. difficile HAI.

Date of Award

Spring 2019

Location (Creation)

Colorado (state); Denver (county); Denver (inhabited place)

Rights Statement

All content in this Collection is owned by and subject to the exclusive control of Regis University and the authors of the materials. It is available only for research purposes and may not be used in violation of copyright laws or for unlawful purposes. The materials may not be downloaded in whole or in part without permission of the copyright holder or as otherwise authorized in the “fair use” standards of the U.S. copyright laws and regulations.

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