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Poor hospital infection control practice in venepuncture and use of tourniquets

Poor hospital infection control practice in venepuncture and use of tourniquets
Poor hospital infection control practice in venepuncture and use of tourniquets

Previous studies have indicated that tourniquets may act as reservoirs of pathogenic organisms and could therefore pose a risk to patients through cross-infection. In this study, 200 tourniquets were sampled from health professionals working in a large teaching hospital. A parallel survey of control of infection was also undertaken. Staphylococcus aureus was isolated from 10 (5%) of the tourniquets sampled. Methicillin-resistant S. aureus was not isolated. Seventy-five (37.5%) of the tourniquets sampled had visible blood stains; house officers (72.7%) and laboratory phlebotomists (69.2%) had the highest proportion of blood-stained tourniquets. Tourniquets were owned on average for 1.86 years, with most respondents only obtaining a new tourniquet when the old tourniquet was lost. Three percent of respondents used a separate tourniquet for patients with known infective risk factors, e.g. HIV, MRSA. Twenty-seven percent of respondents did not wear gloves for venepuncture or did so only occasionally. Only 42% washed their hands both before and after venepuncture. Our survey reveals poor infection control practice, but a relatively low frequency of S. aureus contamination of tourniquets.

Blood-Borne Pathogens, Cross Infection, Cross-Sectional Studies, England, Equipment Contamination, Guideline Adherence, Hand Disinfection, Humans, Phlebotomy, Staphylococcus aureus, Tourniquets, Journal Article
0195-6701
59-61
Rourke, C.
07ad17b8-0a24-4ae9-8248-3df7c06ab016
Bates, C.
7c0c212a-8c1a-4a1f-9eee-590280e5e54e
Read, R.C.
b5caca7b-0063-438a-b703-7ecbb6fc2b51
Rourke, C.
07ad17b8-0a24-4ae9-8248-3df7c06ab016
Bates, C.
7c0c212a-8c1a-4a1f-9eee-590280e5e54e
Read, R.C.
b5caca7b-0063-438a-b703-7ecbb6fc2b51

Rourke, C., Bates, C. and Read, R.C. (2001) Poor hospital infection control practice in venepuncture and use of tourniquets. Journal of Hospital Infection, 49 (1), 59-61. (doi:10.1053/jhin.2001.1038).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Previous studies have indicated that tourniquets may act as reservoirs of pathogenic organisms and could therefore pose a risk to patients through cross-infection. In this study, 200 tourniquets were sampled from health professionals working in a large teaching hospital. A parallel survey of control of infection was also undertaken. Staphylococcus aureus was isolated from 10 (5%) of the tourniquets sampled. Methicillin-resistant S. aureus was not isolated. Seventy-five (37.5%) of the tourniquets sampled had visible blood stains; house officers (72.7%) and laboratory phlebotomists (69.2%) had the highest proportion of blood-stained tourniquets. Tourniquets were owned on average for 1.86 years, with most respondents only obtaining a new tourniquet when the old tourniquet was lost. Three percent of respondents used a separate tourniquet for patients with known infective risk factors, e.g. HIV, MRSA. Twenty-seven percent of respondents did not wear gloves for venepuncture or did so only occasionally. Only 42% washed their hands both before and after venepuncture. Our survey reveals poor infection control practice, but a relatively low frequency of S. aureus contamination of tourniquets.

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More information

Accepted/In Press date: 29 May 2001
Published date: September 2001
Keywords: Blood-Borne Pathogens, Cross Infection, Cross-Sectional Studies, England, Equipment Contamination, Guideline Adherence, Hand Disinfection, Humans, Phlebotomy, Staphylococcus aureus, Tourniquets, Journal Article

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 416966
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/416966
ISSN: 0195-6701
PURE UUID: 98798f2d-2816-43a9-8bad-f5f4ee469da9
ORCID for R.C. Read: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-4297-6728

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Date deposited: 15 Jan 2018 17:31
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 04:10

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Contributors

Author: C. Rourke
Author: C. Bates
Author: R.C. Read ORCID iD

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