Addressing multidrug resistant pathogens in pediatric palliative care patients-the nurses point of view: A qualitative study

Title

Addressing multidrug resistant pathogens in pediatric palliative care patients-the nurses point of view: A qualitative study

Creator

Schmidt P; Hartenstein-Pinter A; Wager J; Hasan C; Zernikow B

Publisher

Palliative Medicine

Date

2019

Subject

hygiene; multidrug resistance; nurses; Palliative care; pediatrics

Description

BACKGROUND: Multidrug resistant pathogens are a large-scale healthcare issue. In particular, children with life-limiting conditions have a significantly increased risk of multidrug resistant pathogen colonization. Official hygiene requirements recommend children, who are colonized with multidrug resistant pathogens, to be isolated. In the context of pediatric palliative care, such isolation adversely affects the aim of social participation. To overcome this challenge of conflicting interests on a pediatric palliative care inpatient unit, a hygiene concept for patients colonized with multidrug resistant pathogens, called PALLINI, was implemented. AIM: The aim of this study was to identify the nurses' attitudes and opinions toward PALLINI. METHODS: Nurses (N = 14) from the pediatric palliative care unit were queried in guideline-oriented interviews. Interviews were analyzed qualitatively by means of content analysis. RESULTS: The following four categories were identified: (1) safety, (2) effort, (3) quality of care, and (4) participation. All categories demonstrated ambivalence by nursing staff regarding PALLINI. Ambivalence arose from guaranteeing infection control versus noncompliance by the families, additional workload for patients with multidrug resistant pathogens versus lack of resources, impaired relationship with the parents versus enabling better care for the child, as well as enabling some limited contact versus the larger goal of genuine social participation. Despite this, nurses reported the importance of arranging everyday-life for the patients so that they experience as much social participation as possible. CONCLUSION: The implementation of a new hygiene concept is challenging. Despite positive reception of PALLINI from the nurses, ambivalence remained. Addressing these ambivalences may be critical to best implement the new hygiene concept.

Rights

Article information provided for research and reference use only. PedPalASCNET does not hold any rights over the resource listed here. All rights are retained by the journal listed under publisher and/or the creator(s).

Citation List Month

December 2019 List

Collection

Citation

Schmidt P; Hartenstein-Pinter A; Wager J; Hasan C; Zernikow B, “Addressing multidrug resistant pathogens in pediatric palliative care patients-the nurses point of view: A qualitative study,” Pediatric Palliative Care Library, accessed March 28, 2024, https://pedpalascnetlibrary.omeka.net/items/show/16558.