Development of a Patient Care System for Prevention and Control of Antimicrobial Resistant Infections at Nopparat Rajathanee Hospital

Abstract

This research and development study aimed to develop a patient care system for the prevention and control of antimicrobial-resistant infections and to study nursing outcomes. The sample consisted of 30 patient care system development team members and 60 infection control nurses from various wards. Data were collected between May 1, 2023, and June 30, 2024. The research was conducted according to a collaborative quality improvement framework comprising 8 steps. Research instruments included an assessment form for antimicrobial-resistant infection prevention and control practices, a professional nurse satisfaction questionnaire, a form for recording antimicrobial-resistant outbreak control measures, and a form for recording antimicrobial-resistant infection tests. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and chi-square tests.

The results revealed that the patient care system for prevention and control of antimicrobial-resistant infections comprised hospital antimicrobial-resistant infection surveillance, prevention and control of antimicrobial-resistant pathogen transmission, and response to antimicrobial-resistant outbreaks. Professional nurses reported high satisfaction with the patient care system (M 4.33, SD 0.46) and demonstrated high compliance with the patient care system (94.00%). Regarding nursing outcomes after implementing the patient care system, there were no differences in infection rates and mortality rates from antimicrobial-resistant infections between pre- and post-system development (p > 0.05). However, there was a downward trend in both infection and mortality rates from antimicrobial-resistant infections. This study supports the development of a patient care system for preventing and controlling antimicrobial-resistant infections through the continuous integration of nursing knowledge and skills.