Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for Healthcare Workers

This ePoster aims to educate new graduate RNs about the importance of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) in healthcare settings. It explains the different types of PPE and their benefits in preventing infections. The ePoster also includes a research question formulated using the PICO framework to meet the learning objectives. The intended audience is new graduate RNs.

Navigating Transitions 2018: Assessment 2 – Learning Resource ePoster
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Navigating Transitions Assessment Task 2: Learning Resource – ePoster template
Title of eposter:
Student Name: Student Number:
Intended Audience:
Audience Learning Objectives (25 words or less): PPE is used to protect the healthcare workers
from infections. Thus, the primary learning objective is to explain use of PPE to new graduate RNs.
Purpose of eposter in addressing the identified learning need (500 words):
The major purpose of the eposter is to disseminate relevant information to the new graduate RNs
who have joined a medical facility on the different benefits and advantages that personal
protective equipment offers in healthcare settings. In other words, the role of the eposter is to
broadcast messages to the graduate nurses, with the aim of increasing their awareness on the
different items such as, gloves, gowns and masks that should be worn, while operating a patient
or caring for a patient. While there are different ways by which scientific information can be
disseminated such as, websites, blogs, videos, and slogans, eposter has been selected for the
purpose due to the fact that posters form an integral part of academic conferences and allow the
incorporation of multi-media formats graphs and other illustrations, without any significant
printing costs. It is utmost essential to wear the right kind of PPE that includes clothing and
specialised equipment for protecting self and the patients from all kinds of germs (Verbeek et al.,
2016). PPE have been found to act in the form of a barrier between the bacteria, virus or fungi
that has a risk of being transmitted, and the person exposed to the germs. Some of the most
common PPE include masks, face shields, gloves, gowns, and goggles. The eposter will help the
nurses to get a sound understanding of the fact that they are not required to put on PPE in every
situation. Depending on the kind of infection or germ, they might require wearing a mask or
gloves (Bosanko and Boylan 2013). The research question in this scenario will be formulated with
the use of the PICO framework. This will help in meeting the learning objectives. The PICO
question for the eposter is as follows:
Do PPE reduce rates of infection in a healthcare setting?
A hospital acquired infection (HAI), also referred to as nosocomial infection is any kind of infection
that an individual gets in a healthcare setting such as, outpatient clinics, rehabilitation facilities,
nursing homes, and hospitals. Healthcare workers have been found largely responsible for the
spread of such infection, besides other means such as, bed linen, air droplets or contamination
with equipment (Lewis et al. 2013). Hence, there is a need for the staff to adopt essential
protective measures. In certain cases the germ originates from the own microbiota of the patient
skin, becoming unscrupulous following, surgery or other clinical procedures that damage the
protective barrier of the skin. Furthermore, healthcare staff also come in contact with body fluids
and blood of the patients (Mbaisi, Wanzala and Omolo 2013). This in turn increases their chances
of infection. Contact transmission has been identified as the most frequent route of spread of
infection among the healthcare staff from the patients. Furthermore, transmission also occurs
under situation where droplets are generated from the patient during the conduction of some

Navigating Transitions 2018: Assessment 2 – Learning Resource ePoster
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surgical procedures like bronchospcopy (Salama et al. 2013). Taking into consideration the fact
that the registered nurses are most often involved in direct patient care that requires personal
contact with the patients, PPEs are most suitable for preventing infection.

Navigating Transitions 2018: Assessment 2 – Learning Resource ePoster
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References:
Bosanko, C. and Boylan, M., 2013. Personal Protective Equipment. ABC of Prehospital Emergency
Medicine, 258, p.7.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2014. Guidance on personal protective equipment to be used
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procedures for putting on (donning) and removing (doffing). Atlanta, GA: CDC.
Cornejo-Juárez, P., Vilar-Compte, D., Pérez-Jiménez, C., Namendys-Silva, S.A., Sandoval-Hernández, S. and
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Lewis, S.S., Moehring, R.W., Chen, L.F., Sexton, D.J. and Anderson, D.J., 2013. Assessing the relative burden
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Salama, M. F., Jamal, W. Y., Al Mousa, H., Al-AbdulGhani, K. A., & Rotimi, V. O. (2013). The effect of hand
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Verbeek, J.H., Ijaz, S., Mischke, C., Ruotsalainen, J.H., Mäkelä, E., Neuvonen, K., Edmond, M.B., Sauni, R.,
Balci, F.S.K. and Mihalache, R.C., 2016. Personal protective equipment for preventing highly infectious

Navigating Transitions 2018: Assessment 2 – Learning Resource ePoster
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diseases due to exposure to contaminated body fluids in healthcare staff. Cochrane Database of
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