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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2021 Mar 9.
Published in final edited form as: Int J Nurs Stud. 2021 Jan 19;115:103841. doi: 10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2020.103841

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.