Performance of infection prevention and control programs in small hospitals

Abstract

Objective To evaluate the structure compliance and prevention and control processes of Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAIs). Method A prospective and cross-sectional study conducted from 2015 to 2016 in small hospitals with up to 70 beds in a region of São Paulo state. Four previously validated indicators were evaluated and expressed as a compliance index (percentage in relation to the evaluated items). Results Fourteen (14) among the 27 recruited hospitals consented to participate in the study. The average compliance values for each indicator were: Program structure (61.0%); Operational guidelines (84.5%); Epidemiological surveillance (57.9%); and Prevention activities (74.5%). Greater compliance was observed in private hospitals (73.9%) and with the presence of an intensive care unit (90.3%). The hospitals had nurses assigned to the program (92.9%), but only 23.1% of the private institutions worked exclusively for six hours. Conclusion Only the indicator referring to the Operational Guidelines of the evaluated programs was above 90% compliance for the median of hospitals. The greatest dispersion of compliance results among the studied hospitals was related to the Epidemiological Surveillance indicator.