Nurse's perceptions on infection prevention and control in atopic dermatitis in children

BACKGROUND: Nurses should be conscious of healthcare associated infections, and the standard precautions required to reduce the risk of patients becoming infected. Patients with atopic dermatitis are often predisposed to a higher incidence of bacterial and viral infections. This study aims to explore and describe nurses' understanding and knowledge of their role in infection control and prevention precautions when caring for children with atopic dermatitis. METHODS: Sixteen nurses were recruited from the dermatology clinic, medical wards and emergency department of a metropolitan tertiary referral children hospital for a qualitative exploratory descriptive study. RESULTS: Thematic and content analysis derived three themes from the data: "the importance of infection prevention and control when managing children with atopic dermatitis", "nurses focus on self-protection", and "educating families on infection prevention and control". CONCLUSION: Nurses' perceptions of their role emphasised the need to limit cross-infection between patients when children were admitted with exacerbations of atopic dermatitis. Participants articulated that in their own practice personal protective equipment (PPE) was often used for self-protection and to protect their uniform rather than to protect the child from cross-infection. The importance of providing family members with sufficient education to assist them in managing the child at home was also particularly salient. The importance nurses placed on educating patients and family members about home-management, preventing cross-infection and minimising the occurrence of future exacerbations of atopic dermatitis, highlights the potential to develop interventions to support greater consumer participation in infection prevention for children with chronic relapsing conditions such as atopic dermatitis.