University of Twente Student Theses

Login

How to prevent and control nosocomial urinary tract infections in German hospitals with ehealth technology : a contextual inquiry

Riffert, Alexander (2013) How to prevent and control nosocomial urinary tract infections in German hospitals with ehealth technology : a contextual inquiry.

[img] PDF
1MB
Abstract:The purpose of this research is to investigate the context of nosocomial urinary tract infections (nUTI) within the German hospital setting, in order to develop eHealth-based technology that can prevent and control nUTI. A review of relevant international literature has been combined with a focus group in order to assess risk factors associated with nUTI and associated solutions, as well as factors that are additionally relevant for the German health-care context. The focus group took place in a German university hospital, organised in cooperation with a closely connected institute for hospital hygiene. The results demonstrate convergence between international literature and the German context with regards to risk behaviours and related determinants that can lead to nUTI incidence, such as delayed catheter removal or insufficient hygiene precautions. However, a vicious circle of nUTI-related cost ambiguities and a lack of surveillance has been identified that is unique to the German system and that hinders the implementation of solutions that are proven to be effective by international literature. Furthermore, the results yield several barriers that hinder the implementation of precaution strategies that are proven to be effective in the international context, for example a lack of standardised evaluation criteria for surveillance or checklists that clearly schedule catheter removal. It can be concluded that the system in place is not capable of preventing nUTI effectively. Finally, this paper offers an eHealth solution model that incorporates several approaches into one framework that is adapted to the special needs of German hospital settings and should be embedded in a possible eHealth technology. It builds on digitalised patient documentation that enables active surveillance and prompts for catheter removal and which will ultimately lead to nUTI reduction through on-time catheter removal and compliance to hygiene precautions via direct feedback.
Item Type:Essay (Master)
Faculty:BMS: Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences
Subject:77 psychology
Programme:Psychology MSc (66604)
Link to this item:https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/64206
Export this item as:BibTeX
EndNote
HTML Citation
Reference Manager

 

Repository Staff Only: item control page