Background:
Workplace violence incidents remain pervasive in health care. Home care workers like personal support workers (PSWs) provide services for clients with dementia, which has been identified ...as a risk factor for workplace violence. The objective of this study was to evaluate whether the implementation of a rapid response algorithm resolved unsafe working conditions associated with responsive behaviors and decreased perception of risk.
Methods:
A nonexperimental pre- and post-evaluation design was utilized to collect data from PSWs and supervisors. PSWs completed an online survey about their experience with workplace violence and perception of risk. Bi-weekly check-ins were conducted with supervisors to track incidents and their level of resolution in the algorithm. Semi-structured interviews were also conducted to gather in-depth feedback about the algorithm in practice.
Findings:
We found no difference in risk perception among PSWs pre- and post-implementation. However, PSWs who had been employed for less than 1 year had a significantly higher risk perception. Overall, the algorithm was found to be helpful in resolving workplace violence incidents.
Conclusion and Application to Practice:
Opportunity exists to further refine the algorithm and ongoing dissemination, and implementation of the algorithm is recommended to continually address incidents of workplace violence. Newly hired PSWs may require additional supports. Ongoing education and training were identified as key mitigation strategies.
With the Ontario healthcare system under strain the use of resources—particularly emergency medical services (EMS) is an increasing focus. Recent work has identified long-term care facilities as high ...users of EMS despite access to health-related support outside of the hospital. However, such insights are not available for home care. A retrospective review of administrative records of EMS calls drawn from over 6 million visits by home care providers found relatively low call rates: 8.4 calls per 100 000 personal support visits, 4.1 calls per 100 000 for rehabilitation providers, and 0.9 calls per 100 000 for nurses. The majority (85%) of calls resulted in transport to the hospital; the notable exception was fall-related events, and of these falls, a third (32%) were treated at home. Classification of reported physical symptoms suggests opportunities for leveraging in-home clinical specialists to avoid hospital transport where possible and preserve EMS capacity to respond to the most urgent and severe events.
Facial protective equipment (FPE) adherence is necessary for the health and safety of nursing professionals. This review was conducted to synthesize predisposing, enabling, and reinforcing factors ...that influence FPE adherence, and thus inform efforts to promote adherence.
Articles were collected using Cumulated Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature and MEDLINE and screened for inclusion. Included articles were original studies focused on FPE adherence by nurses to prevent respiratory infection which contained occupation-specific data from at least 10 individuals and were published in English between January 2005 and February 2022.
Thirty articles were included, 21 of which reported adherence rates. Adherence ranged from 33% to 100% for respiratory protection and 22% to 100% for eye protection. Predisposing demographic factors influencing adherence included tenure and occupation, while modifiable predisposing factors included knowledge and perception of FPE, infection transmission, and risk. Enabling factors included geography, care settings, and FPE availability. Reinforcing factors included organizational support for health and safety, clear policies, and training.
The identified demographic factors suggest populations that may benefit from targeted interventions, while modifiable factors suggest opportunities to enhance education as well as operational processes and supports. Interventions that target these areas have the potential to promote adherence and thereby improve the occupational safety of nurses.
•Organizational, environmental, and individual factors impact nurses’ FPE adherence.•FPE access, policy clarity, and organizational support promote an adherence culture.•Adherence promotion strategies should focus on newer and emergency department staff.•Education should focus on FPE knowledge, infection transmission, and risk perception.
Lactic acid bacteria are the well acknowledged probiotics that can cure a variety of diseases. In this study, we observed the in vivo potentials of Pediococcus to treat hyperglycemia, ...hypercholesterolemia and gastrointestinal infections. A total of 77 Lactobacillus were isolated from the milk of 10 cows and 10 goats, four of those strains inhibited both carbohydrates-hydrolyzing enzymes, α-glucosidase, and α-amylase. They all showed antagonistic effects on pathogenic E. coli and S. Typhimurium which were confirmed by performing pathogen challenge test and visualizing on Electron microscopy. 16S rRNA gene sequence identified that all four strains belong to Pediococcus genus which were further distinguished as Pediococcus acidilactici by pheS gene sequence. Whole genome sequence analysis revealed their non-pathogenic properties for human and the presence of probiotic genes responsible for stress resistance, immunomodulation, adhesion, metal and drug resistance. In vivo trial with diabetes-induced mice ascertained that all Pediococcus acidilactici had significant potentials to reduce elevated glucose and low-density lipoprotein level in blood. Interestingly, two out of four strains were significantly more effective (p < 0.0001 each) than metformin in reducing the blood glucose level. This in vivo study demonstrated that Pediococcus acidilactici might be a promising probiotic to prevent hyperglycemia, hypercholesterolemia and gastrointestinal infections.
The use of antibiotic growth promoters (AGPs) in the poultry industry has raised concern because of their potential harm to human health. Emerging evidence suggests that probiotics are a safer ...substitute, although little research has explored this in Bangladesh. We recently isolated local bacterial strains with probiotic properties. We aimed to determine their impact on the growth, hematobiochemical parameters, and production costs of broiler chicks relative to that of a commercial probiotic (CP) and AGP.
Day-old male broiler chicks (Cobb 500, n=63) were divided equally into three experimental groups (three replicates per group and seven chicks per replicate). First group was fed a basal diet supplemented with the AGP, ciprofloxacin (CTL group), second group was fed a basal diet supplemented with the CP, Protexin
(CP group), and the third group was fed a basal diet supplemented with our isolated bacterial strains (study probiotic SP group) for 36 days. Body weight was recorded daily, and relative growth rate (RGR), feed conversion ratio (FCR), and organ weights and carcass yields were calculated at the study's end. Blood obtained on day 36 was used to determine the number of red blood cell (RBC) and white blood cells (WBCs), hemoglobin (Hb) concentration, packed cell volume, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, as well as levels of serum glucose, total and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, and triglycerides (TGs). Total production costs were estimated by summing the variable and fixed costs.
Chicks in both the CP and SP groups experienced significant decreases in blood glucose levels and significant increases in BW, RGR, FCR, levels of RBC and WBC, Hb concentration, and packed cell volume compared with those in the CTL group (p
0.05 for all). Our data suggested a numerical reduction (p>0.05) in levels of total cholesterol, TGs, and HDL in the SP and CP groups when compared to the CTL group. In addition, both CP and SP treatments resulted in significant (p<0.05) gains in net profit compared with the treatment given to the CTL group.
Administration of probiotics, either from a commercialized or local source, led to greater improvements in growth, hematological parameters, and net profits of broiler chicks when compared with that of an AGP. This suggests that they are suitable alternatives to the AGPs used in poultry feed and that our isolated strains, in particular, are an ideal option for farmers in Bangladesh.
Background: Nowadays, Health Care Professionals’ (HCPs) are increasingly using mobile phones which may act as reservoirs and vector for transmission of pathogens. The presence of multidrug resistant ...nosocomial microbes on the surface of mobile phones used by HCPs in hospitals can pose a great public health threat. So, this research was conducted to identify the concerned multi-drug resistant (MDR) bacteria and also to explore the recent status of bacterial contamination on mobile phones of HCPs in the Jashore region of Bangladesh and determine their antibiotic resistance pattern.
Methods: Swab samples of mobile phones were collected between June and September 2019 from 24 different users (i.e., manager, worker, doctor and nurse) associated to four distinct hospitals of Jashore region, Bangladesh. After suitable morphological and biochemical identification, we determined their antimicrobial susceptibility by Kirby- Bauer disc diffusion method by using 18 antibiotics for Gram positive bacteria and 19 antibiotics for Gram negative bacteria. Later, the MDR isolates were grouped by amplified ribosomal DNA restriction analysis (ARDRA) and 16S rRNA sequencing with phylogeny were performed to confirm the bacteria at species level.
Results: A total of 38 bacterial isolates were obtained from the sample. Enterobacter spp. isolates showed maximum resistance against Amoxicillin, followed by Ampicillin and Aztreonam (80% each) and one isolate showed highest antibiotic resistance (15 out of 19) among all the isolates. In addition, Staphylococcus spp. and Exiguobacterium spp. isolates showed 100% resistance against Penicillin, Ampicillin, Oxacillin, Erythromycin, Lincomycin and Cefotaxime. On the contrary, all of the isolates of Escherichia spp., Bacillus spp., Proteus spp. were sensitive to all tested antibiotics. Surprisingly, 20 MDR isolates were showing resistance to at least 2 antibiotics. Subsequently, three distinct genera of these MDR isolates were identified by ARDRA; the strains Enterobacter cloacae (75%), Staphylococcus warneri (15%) and Exiguobacterium aurantiacum (10%) were confirmed by the 16S rRNA phylogenetic analysis.
Conclusion: We found that cell phones can act as reservoirs of multidrug-resistant pathogens, causative agents for Hospital-acquired infections. An effective hygiene practice for health care personnel should be introduced to prevent the cross-contamination by their cell phone
Bangladesh Journal of Medical Science Vol. 22 No. 03 July’23 Page : 643-656
Antibacterial active compounds isolated from higher plants appear to be one of the most important alternative approaches to contain antibiotic resistance and the management of disease. The present ...study was aimed at to investigate the antibacterial activity of some medicinal plant species including seeds namely Centella asiatica, Oxalis corniculata, Phoenix dactylifera, Clitoria ternatea and Nigella sativa. The methanolic and ethanolic extract of Centella asiatica, Oxalis corniculata, Phoenix dactylifera and Clitoria ternatea was investigated for antimicrobial activity at different concentrations by using disc diffusion method against some bacterial strains with standard antibiotic cephachlore (10 μg). The result demonstrated that all the extracts showed antibacterial activities against the isolates, which were dose dependent. The ethanolic extract of Oxalis corniculata at a concentration of 50 μl/disc had the highest effect on the test organism B. subtilis, Salmonella typhi and E. coli with 9.3, 9.7 and 10.8 mm diameter of zone of inhibition respectively while at the same concentration the extract of Clitoria ternatea had a higher antimicrobial activity on Bacillus cereus with 11.3 mm diameter of zone of inhibition. The activities of the plant extracts on the tested pathogens were not as effective as the standard commercial antibacterial disc but was significant. In case of Nigella sativa, Pseudomonas aeruginosa was sensitive to both the ethanolic extract and oils at different concentration. Salmonella typhi shows the same degree of inhibition for ethanolic extract as Bacillus cereus, but greater inhibition for oils. Of all the bacteria, Pseudomonas aeruginosa was the most sensitive bacteria against ethanolic extract and oils, while Bacillus cereus was the most resistant bacteria. Generally, the oils of Nigella sativa sample had higher antibacterial activity against bacteria than ethanolic extract. All the extracts are inhibitory to most common human pathogen S. typhi. The results suggest that the different plant extracts has a significant scope to develop a novel broad spectrum of antibacterial herbal formulations.Asian J. Med. Biol. Res. December 2017, 3(4): 405-411
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