The article is about the use of an intervention package and teamwork training to address the risk of self-contamination during personal protective equipment (PPE) doffing tasks. The study is a randomized control trial (RCT) conducted in the Johns Hopkins Hospital Biocontainment Unit in Baltimore, Maryland, and approved by the institutional review board. The purpose of Andonian et al. (2019) is to test the efficiency of the intervention package in reducing the risk of self-contaminations during doffing or the removal of PPE. The text might be difficult to read and comprehend as it contains discipline-specific professional terminology and quantitative data (percentage, numbers) to demonstrate statistics, measurements, and findings. The authors do not explicitly introduce the problem statement. The study examined intervention group participants without doffing experience accessed by infection preventionists to reduce the risk of doffing self-contamination and develop the methods protecting healthcare professionals using PPE from Ebola and other deadly pathogens. The study results are clinically relevant, as the intervention package proved to be effective in reducing the risk of self-contamination and pathogen transmission during PPE doffing.
The article is clinically relevant to the problem question because it suggests that the intervention package, addressing tasks, tools, environment, and teamwork, can reduce PPE self-contamination during doffing. The researchers tested their hypothesis and concluded that best practices include teamwork strategies based on efficient verbal/non-verbal communication, situational awareness, team member support, and verbalization of safety issues. The research evidence might be applied in the clinical practice as a source of guidance for healthcare professionals on PPE doffing and self-contamination prevention. The research findings are especially relevant during the COVID-19 pandemic, as medical professionals are regularly exposed to the virus and associated health risks. The study adds to the evidence informing on personal protection safety practices, such as efficient teamwork training strategies guiding PPE duffing steps and assisting in risk mitigation.
Reference
Andonian, J., Kazi, S., Therkorn, J., Benishek, L., Billman, C., Schiffauer M., Nowakowski, E., Osei, P., Gurses, A. P., Hsu, Y. J., Drewry, D., Forsyth, E. R., Vignesh, A., Oresanwo, I., Garibaldi, B. T., Rainwater-Lovett, K., Trexler, P., & Maragakis, L. L. (2019). Effect of an intervention package and teamwork training to prevent healthcare personnel self-contamination during personal protective equipment doffing. Clinical Infectious Diseases, 69(S3), S248–S255. Web.