Why the study?
Little is known about the facilitators and barriers to healthcare professionals' use of clinical guidelines for preventing surgical site infections in Rwandan hospitals.
Lack of official guidelines, staff shortages, and limited resources are key barriers to preventing surgical site infections in Rwandan hospitals, while teamwork and self-motivation act as facilitators.
Highlights context-specific barriers to SSI guideline use in Rwanda; leaves open targeted implementation strategies pending prospective testing.
Background: Surgical site infection (SSI) is a significant clinical problem with detrimental effects on the quality of life coupled with prolonged hospital stays, additional costs for patients. There are clinical guidelines for prevention of surgical site infections. However, little is known about the facilitators; and barriers against healthcare professionals’ use of clinical guidelines in the prevention of SSI in Rwandan hospitals. Aim: This study aims to explore facilitators and barriers to healthcare professionals’ use of clinical guidelines for Surgical Site Infection Prevention in Rwanda. Methods: A qualitative, exploratory and descriptive study that involved 28 health professionals was carried out. Participants were selected using purpose sampling approach. The data collection process involved the use of a focused group discussion using interview guide to gather relevant information. Subsequently, the collected data was analyzed using the software Atlas TI, along with content analysis techniques to derive meaningful insights from the data. Results: The barriers faced by health care professionals included a lack of official guidelines for the prevention of SSIs, shortage of health care professionals, an inappropriate monitoring system due to work overload, limited knowledge on the subject among them, limited resources in terms of facilities and hospital monetary. The identified facilitators were self-motivation, teamwork, peer support, and support from the management committee of the hospital. Conclusion: This study identified lack of official guideline for prevention of SSIs as one of main barriers encountered by health care professionals to the prevention of surgical site infections. Despite the positive efforts made by healthcare professionals toward the prevention and management of SSIs, several challenges impede the process. Recommendations should be tailored to availing official clinical guidelines for prevent SSI, increased training for healthcare professionals, provision of more healthcare staff, and improved surveillance and monitoring of surgical site infection.
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Niyomugabo et al. (2024) studied Surgical site infection (n=28). Clinical guidelines for Surgical Site Infection Prevention was evaluated on Facilitators and barriers to the use of clinical guidelines. Using clinical guidelines for surgical site infection prevention was primarily hindered by a lack of official guidelines, staff shortages, and limited resources among 28 health professionals.
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