Survey of nursing personnel attitudes toward infections and their control in the elderly

To better understand nursing practice in geriatric care settings as it relates to infections, a survey of nursing attitudes about a variety of infection control issues was undertaken. Nurses were recruited from four settings: a university-affiliated, private nursing home ( N = 46), a hospital-based nursing home ( N = 33), a private nursing home ( N = 20), and a home care agency ( N = 26). The nurses appropriately recognized the importance of pneumonia and influenza as major threats to health in these settings and also reported some indifference regarding the notification of physicians about fevers under 38.9° C (102.0° F). Among the groups, similar attitudes about infection control principles were recorded, except that the ratings by the home care agency nurses were different from those of the institution-based nurses in the following areas: isolation as a means to prevent infection spread, proper waste disposal methods, and frequency of catherer change. Assessment of personnel attitudes and practices are important in detecting problems, guiding in-service programing, and revising care practices.