Relationships among Knowledge, Attitude, and Use of Negative Control Maintenance Techniques Toward Older Adults among Nurses Working in Geriatric Hospitals / 성인간호학회지

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships among knowledge, attitudes, and the use of negative control maintenance techniques toward older adults among nurses working in geriatric hospitals (n=86). METHODS: Data were collected from April 4th to May 30th in 2006 by using questionnaires of Fact on Aging Quiz Part I, Aging Semantic Differential Scaling, and Control Maintenance Techniques. RESULTS: The findings showed that the nurses displayed lack of knowledge concerning older adults and their average rate of correct answer was 45.6%. They also hold some negative bias and attitudes, especially in psychological and social aspects. The level of using negative control maintenance techniques in managing older patients' problematic behaviors was reported as the mean of 5.65 with a possible range of 0-40. Nurse's knowledge of older adults was positively associated with their attitudes toward older adults, but their knowledge and attitudes were not associated with the use of negative control maintenance techniques. CONCLUSION: It is necessary to provide educational programs for nurses that focus on a comprehensive understanding of aging with lifetime developmental perspectives. Further studies are needed to understand the factors associated with using negative control maintenance techniques and to evaluate the intervention programs in reducing the use of negative control maintenance techniques.

Comparison of EASY 24 Plus, API 20E, and VITEK GNI+ for Identification of Enterobacteriaceae / 대한임상미생물학회지

BACKGROUND: Several automated and nonautomated systems have been developed and are commercially available for the identification of gram-negative bacilli. EASY 24E+ kit was recently developed as Korean kit for identification of gram-negative bacilli. So we evaluated the accuracy and clinical utility of EASY 24E+ compared with API 20E and VITEK GNI+. METHODS: The 221 clinical isolates of Enterobacteriaceae, including 17 C. freundii, 20 E. cloacae, 31 E. coli, 6 E. aerogenes, 29 K. pneumoniae, 3 K. oxytoca, 11 M. morganii, 13 P. mirabilis, 16 Salmonella spp., 20 S. marcescens, 9 Shigella spp., 22 S. sonnei, 16 S. typhi, 8 Y. pseudotuberculosis and 10 control strains were identified by API 20E, EASY 24E+, and VITEK GNI+. Discrepant strains were performed repeat identifications and we evaluated overall accuracy. RESULTS: All of control strains were correctly identified by three systems. The overall correct results at species level and at the genus level for 221 clinical isolates, were 96.8% and 99.1% by the VITEK GNI+, 97.7% and 97.7% by the EASY 24+ and 99.1% and 100% by the API 20E. All of Salmonella spp., S. typhi and Shigella spp. were correctly identified by all three systems and the discrepant identifications of species were 2 Y. pseudotuberculosis, 3 K. pneumoniae and 2 K. oxytoca by VITEK GNI+, 4 C. freundii and 1 P. mirabilis by EASY 24+, and 2 S. marcescens by API 20E. CONCLUSIONS: All three identification systems are accurate methods for the identification of Enterobacteriaceae, and EASY 24+ is comparable with API 20E and VITEK GNI+.

Comparison of Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing Methods to Detect Glycopeptide Resistance in Enterococci: E-test, Vitek, Disk Diffusion and Agar Dilution Method / 대한임상병리학회지

BACKGROUNDS: The emergence of resistant strains to glycopeptide in enterococci(GRE) is increasingly serious problem in the worldwide. Automated methods and disk diffusion test have difficulties in detecting vancomycin resistance of some strains of vancomycin-resistant enterococci(VRE), especially having vanC genotypes. And a few studies have been done assessing the ability of antimicrobial susceptibility testing methods to detect teicoplanin resistance in enterococci. METHODS: We evaluated the abilities of two commercial kits including Vitek GPS-IZ(BioMerieux, Vitek, Inc., USA) and E-test(AB Biodisk, USA), and disk diffusion test to detect glycopeptide resistance using 34 strains of vanA and 15 strains of vanC1/C2 VRE. We compared the results with those of standard agar dilution test. RESULTS: In detecting vancomycin resistance, no very major or major errors were seen, and minor error rates were observed with disk diffusion(25%), Vitek GPS-IZ(20%) and E-test(8%). Overall sensitivities of all three methods in detecting vancomycin resistance of vanA VRE were 97-100%, but sensitivities in detecting vancomycin resistance of vanC VRE were 20% in disk diffusion, 87% in E-test and 87% in Vitek GPS-IZ. In detecting teicoplanin resistance, very major error rate was high in Vitek GPS-IZ(47%), but no very major or major errors were seen in disk diffusion and E-test; minor error rates of 2% and 6% were seen in Vitek GPS-IZ and E-test, respectively. CONCLUSION: All three methods detect vancomycin resistance of vanA VRE, but they continue to demonstrate problems in detecting low-level vancomycin resistance and the Vitek GPS-IZ is difficult to detect teicoplanin resistance in enterococci.