Table 3.
Infection prevention and control-related organizational structures, policies and procedures by urban/rural location, weighted estimates.
| % |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Urban | Rural | p-value | |
| Agency Committee for IC-Related Activities or Issues† | ||||
| Yes | 70.5 | 71.7 | 63.8 | 0.06 |
| Not currently, but plans to develop one in the next year | 9.6 | 9.6 | 10.1 | 0.85 |
| Not currently, and no plans to develop one | 15.5 | 14.8 | 19.5 | 0.17 |
| Frequency of IC Committee Meetings† | ||||
| Annually or biannually | 6.4 | 6.7 | 4.7 | 0.44 |
| Quarterly | 66.0 | 65.4 | 69.9 | 0.39 |
| Monthly or more | 22.0 | 22.6 | 18.5 | 0.42 |
| Agency Policies for Staff Flu Vaccination* | ||||
| Declination statement required if vaccine refused | 56.4 | 56.3 | 56.9 | 0.90 |
| Vaccinations offered for free | 51.3 | 46.9 | 76.4 | <0.001 |
| Vaccinations offered on site | 46.5 | 42.3 | 70.6 | <0.001 |
| Staff must wear mask during flu season if refused vaccine | 31.0 | 30.1 | 36.2 | 0.15 |
| Requiring vaccinations to work | 26.6 | 26.1 | 29.4 | 0.41 |
| No policies to encourage staff flu vaccinations | 13.8 | 15.3 | 4.9 | <0.001 |
| Percentage of Staff Vaccinated During Last Flu Season | ||||
| ≥95% | 26.4 | 24.0 | 40.4 | <0.001 |
| 75–94% | 31.7 | 32.3 | 28.2 | 0.33 |
| 25–74% | 20.2 | 20.4 | 18.7 | 0.63 |
| <25% | 4.1 | 4.1 | 4.1 | 1.00 |
| Track, but do not know percentage | 5.0 | 5.2 | 3.8 | 0.47 |
| Agency does not track | 12.6 | 14.0 | 4.8 | <0.001 |
| Agency Prohibits Staff from Wearing Artificial Nails | 49.1 | 47.8 | 56.9 | 0.044 |
| Condition- and Device-Specific Policies In-Place at Agency | ||||
| Written policies for care of patients with wounds | 97.6 | 97.5 | 97.8 | 0.85 |
| Written policies for patient education on prevention of pneumonia | 78.6 | 79.2 | 75.1 | 0.61 |
| Agency admits patients with urinary catheters | 98.6 | 98.5 | 99.2 | 0.48 |
| Written policies for care of patients with urinary catheters | 97.4 | 97.1 | 99.0 | 0.18 |
| Agency admits patients with IVs/central lines | 87.5 | 85.9 | 96.3 | <0.001 |
| Written policies for care of patients with IVs/central lines | 98.9 | 98.6 | 100.0 | <0.001 |
| Agency admits ventilated patients | 48.1 | 47.5 | 51.5 | 0.40 |
| Written policies for care of ventilated patients | 75.9 | 79.2 | 59.1 | <0.001 |
| Antibiotic Stewardship Procedure or Program* | ||||
| Collect data on antibiotic use among agency patients | 65.8 | 65.6 | 67.1 | 0.73 |
| Notify clinical staff about antibiotics prescribed to agency patients | 60.7 | 61.4 | 56.6 | 0.29 |
| Notify primary MD/NP about antibiotics prescribed to agency patients | 54.4 | 54.1 | 56.0 | 0.67 |
| Training and/or education to improve antibiotic stewardship | 40.9 | 40.7 | 42.0 | 0.78 |
| Case review to assess appropriateness of antibiotic administration and/or indication | 37.6 | 38.8 | 30.8 | 0.07 |
| Use of guidelines for clinicians to prescribe antibiotics | 21.7 | 22.8 | 15.5 | 0.045 |
IC, infection control; MD, doctor of medicine; NP, nurse practitioner; IV, intravenous therapy. All data shown are weighted.% are column percentages. p-values are significant at α < 0.05. Totals varied due to missing data or skip patterns. Column totals may not add to 100% due to:.
⁎
Column totals may not add to 100% since response choices were select all that apply.
†
Column totals may not add to 100% since responses were mutually exclusive but Other and Don't Know categories are not shown.