Preventing the Transmission of MRSA in Hospital Settings

Transference of MRSA

The transmission of MRSA in hospital settings can be dramatically reduced when certain evidence-based practices and procedures are consistently used. The use of chlorhexidine (CHG) wipes when giving bed baths to patients has been shown to reduce the health care associated infections (HAI). However, other benefits associated with bathing patients may be diminished when CHG wipes are substituted for conventional bathing practices. Patients' overall impressions of the quality of care and attention they receive from nurses are important considerations in the healing processes. It is customary for nurses to use bathing time to assess the status of the patient's skin and to provide therapeutic nursing interventions such human touch and time to listen and communicate.

Methodology

Research Plan. The research design entails using qualitative research methods grounded in phenomenology to collect data about patients' perceptions of traditional bed bath vs. A bed bath using chlorhexidine wipes. The nurse (researcher) will conduct in-depth, face-to-face interviews with volunteering patients. The patients' responses provide the basis for rich qualitative data that will analyzed for emerging themes, according to the qualitative tradition.

Sampling Frame and Subjects. The research subjects will consist of patients who indicate that they understand the study purpose, give their written consent, and anticipate hospital stays of at least two days. In order to avoid the complication of using translators -- particularly in view of the fact that the nurse (researcher) is herself an instrument of the research process in naturalistic grounded research -- the subjects will all be English-speaking patients (Lincoln & Guba, 1985). Presumably, the patients will be able to communicate comfortably with the nurse (researcher) during the interview, experiencing no physical discomfort or stress that would interfere with their ability to participate in the study. Given the importance of these considerations in the hospital setting, the sampling frame may need to be carefully constructed.

Data Collection. The respondent patients will receive traditional bed baths on the first day and bed baths with CHG wipes on the second day. The face-to-face structured interviews will conducted within one to two hours following each bathing experience, and will be audiotaped to facilitate data analysis and to ensure the interviewer -- free of note taking tasks -- can give full attention to the respondent.