Abstract
This study aimed at elucidating infection control-related issues recognized by nurses at nursing homes for the elderly. We performed a self-completion mail questionnaire survey for 1,000 nursing staffs who works at such homes across the country, and compiled and organized information according to semantic content based on 48 free descriptions given by subjects about issues related to infection control. The descriptions could be classified into four categories, including [issues concerning the environment of a nursing homes for the elderly] (e.g. difficulty in separating infected elderly patients from other residents because the facility has only multiple-bed rooms and no single rooms), [issues concerning infection control systems] (e.g. infection control committee is not well functioned), [issues concerning the recognition of infection control among staff] (e.g. ensuring compliance with and continuance of infection control procedures such as hand-washing by staff), and [issues concerning individualized nursing care according to characteristics of each resident ] (e.g. provision of support suited to elderly with dementia ), as well as 17corresponding subcategories.
