Table 4:
Infection control and prevention-related processes and resources by urban/rural location, weighted estimates
| Total | Urban | Rural | p-value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | ||||
| Agency Collects and Reviews Infection Data | 88.1 | 87.9 | 89.2 | 0.64 |
| Frequency of Infection Data Review† | ||||
| Annually | 3.3 | 3.5 | 2.2 | 0.41 |
| Quarterly | 57.1 | 58.7 | 47.8 | 0.024 |
| Monthly or more | 38.7 | 37.0 | 48.2 | 0.019 |
| Information Used to Determine Patient Infections* | ||||
| Provider diagnosis | 83.7 | 82.9 | 88.1 | 0.13 |
| New antibiotic prescription | 82.4 | 82.0 | 84.8 | 0.44 |
| Standard definitions or criteria | 65.6 | ‘5.2 | 68.1 | 0.53 |
| Clinical cultures | 65.6 | 63.8 | 75.6 | 0.009 |
| Assessments Performed to Evaluate-* | ||||
| Infection risk factors | 90.7 | 90.9 | 89.1 | 0.48 |
| Non-compliance with IPC | 74.3 | 75.2 | 68.8 | 0.11 |
| Health status of others in home | 51.9 | 52.7 | 47.6 | 0.26 |
| Home environmental factors | 5.2 | 5.2 | 5.4 | 0.92 |
| No assessments performed | 3.4 | 3.0 | 5.9 | 0.09 |
| Infection/Organism Posing Greatest IPC Challenge† | ||||
| Urinary tract infections | 67.3 | 67.4 | 66.9 | 0.90 |
| Catheter-associated urinary tract infections | 11.2 | 11.2 | 11.2 | 0.99 |
| C. difficile | 6.0 | 6.2 | 4.8 | 0.50 |
| Upper respiratory infections | 3.0 | 3.1 | 2.2 | 0.54 |
| Wound infections | 2.3 | 2.5 | 1.6 | 0.52 |
| Other (MRSA, CLABSI, etc.) | 1.0 | 0.7 | 3.1 | 0.022 |
| No current challenges | 1.5 | 1.4 | 2.0 | 0.57 |
| Aspects of IPC Posing Greatest Challenge† | ||||
| Collecting/reporting infection data | 32.6 | 32.0 | 36.3 | 0.32 |
| Adherence to and monitoring bag technique | 16.8 | 16.0 | 21.6 | 0.11 |
| Adequate field staffing coverage | 16.5 | 16.8 | 14.4 | 0.46 |
| Adherence to and monitoring hand hygiene/standard precautions | 16.2 | 16.8 | 13.0 | 0.25 |
| Managing MDROs and C. difficile | 10.4 | 10.7 | 8.6 | 0.41 |
| IPC Supplies Routinely Provided to Clinical Staff* | ||||
| Gloves/gowns/aprons/masks/eye protection | 99.1 | 98.9 | 100.0 | 0.46 |
| Sharps containers | 93.4 | 92.9 | 96.6 | 0.08 |
| Safety syringes/needles | 82.0 | 79.4 | 96.7 | <0.001 |
| Blood spill kit | 55.1 | 53.3 | 65.4 | 0.007 |
| N95 respirators | 39.7 | 37.7 | 50.7 | 0.004 |
| MRSA kit | 25.4 | 25.6 | 24.5 | 0.77 |
| Financial Resources Used in Last 2 Years For—* | ||||
| Access to clinical procedures manual | 58.7 | 58.3 | 60.8 | 0.58 |
| Staff attendance at conferences | 56.1 | 55.8 | 57.8 | 0.66 |
| On-site IPC training by external entity | 31.3 | 32.4 | 25.0 | 0.07 |
| Access to expert IPC consultation | 19.5 | 19.7 | 18.0 | 0.62 |
| Staff attendance at IPC conferences | 18.6 | 19.1 | 15.6 | 0.31 |
| Webinars/online training | 3.6 | 3.8 | 2.9 | 0.56 |
| No financial resources provided | 14.3 | 14.5 | 13.0 | 0.62 |
IPC, infection prevention and control; MRSA, methicillin-resistant S. aureus; CLABSI, central line-associated bloodstream infection; MDRO, multidrug resistant organism. All data shown are weighted. % are column percentages. Totals varied due to missing data or skip patterns. Column totals may not add to 100% due to:
*
response choices were select all that apply, or
†
responses were mutually exclusive but Other and Don’t Know categories are not shown. p-values are significant at α<0.05.