This should be a lively discussion around the research process and

1. This should be a lively discussion around the research process
and the use of evidence to answer clinical questions. Be sure to
include what you learned from the presentation and how it
impacts clinical practice. (approximately 200-250 words).
Please include this reference Houser, J. (2018). Nursing
research: Reading, using, and creating evidence, 4th ed. Jones &
Bartlett Learning. and please use another reference
Thank you.
This is the presentation:
Topic: Patient Safety in the Hospitalized Setting during a
Pandemic
Clinical Problem: How does the shortage of PPE during the
pandemic affect patient safety compared to before the
pandemic.
· Ever since the February 2020, the US has been faced with a
severe shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE)
necessary for healthcare workers battling the COVID-19
pandemic. Without proper PPE, there is an increased risk of
become ill which can subsequently reduce the quality and
quantity of care provided to hospitalized patients (Cohen &
Rodgers, 2020).
· According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and
Prevention there has been a total number of 27,737,875 COVID-
19 cases in the United States and 491,455 deaths within the last
30 days. The shortage of PPE has had a major effect on the
nursing practice. One of the workarounds has been the reuse of
single-use disposable masks or N95 respirators. It is reported
that 27% of nurses have been in contact with positive COVID-
19 patients without wearing appropriate PPE (Cohen & Rodgers,
2020).
The Research Process
· For this assignment, it was important to have a clear and
relevant clinical problem that tremendously impacts nursing.
· Once we discussed different ideas, we arrived at a mutual

2. agreement regarding our clinical problem and PICOT question
that we will focus the group RUA on.
· Since we all completed previous research on the same clinical
problem but had different PICOT questions, we peer reviewed
articles that were relevant to the decided group PICOT question.
· We approved articles as a group that were published within the
last 5 years.
· We all had assigned parts of the RUA to focus on but helped
our team members as needed.
The Research Process, Cont’d.
What went well?
The group communicated efficiently and in a timely manner. We
used different means of communication such as group chat,
email and google docs, that allowed us to proficiently execute
this assignment.
Barriers Encountered
When compiling references, there were duplicated articles that
had to be eliminated. There were a few misunderstandings as far
as the clarity of the assignment however, it was quickly
resolved.
What is still needed?
Since the shortage of PPE is such a current clinical problem,
research is still developing as the issue becomes resolved.
Therefore, further evaluation and analysis is required to fully
understand the magnitude of this issue.
Correlation to Identified Clinical Issue
Overall, our research findings as a group correlates to our
clinical issue of PPE shortage. The correlation between our
research findings provided evidence showing that a PPE
shortage negatively impacts the hospital setting by increasing
the transmission of the virus in various ways. As a result,
patient safety is compromised. The groups chosen research
articles that correlate to the clinical issue is broken down
below:

3. · chose two cross-sectional studies. The first one was about the
availability of PPE, diagnostic, and treatment facilities for
healthcare workers involved with COVID-19 (Martin-Delgado
et al., 2020). The second study focused on factors related to the
access and use of PPE during the pandemic (Savoia et al.,
2020).
· chose two studies that evaluated the effectiveness of PPE
decontamination methods required during the PPE shortage, and
these methods affected patient safety in the hospitalized setting.
· picked two studies related to PPE shortage in the hospital
setting, the first study outlines contributing factors for the PPE
shortages and the second study provides details on the
decreased supply and the necessity of more ventilators and PPE.
· chose articles that elaborated on the negative effects that PPE
shortages has on not only affected patients but healthcare
workers as well. The drastic changes that included reusing PPE
which were made for single use only was questioned. I
discussed how the shortage of PPE may reduce the changes of
containing the spread of the virus.
· chose two studies that analyzed the PPE shortage during the
COVID-19 pandemic. These cases were compared to the PPE
storage prior to the pandemic and during and saw the effects it
made on patient safety.
· chose two articles that addresses the effect of COVID-19,
including the challenges and solutions to the shortages of PPE
Validity of Qualitative and Quantitative Evidence
· The qualitative evidence in our presentation were the shortage
of PPE equipment and how the healthcare workers were
educated on the ways to use the supplies they had which in
return as an intervention was educating the patients on ways to
uses their masks and proper handwashing techniques.
· Within the articles there were clear explanations of PPE
shortages in the United States while also outlining different
statistics on the rapid increase of PPE shortage. For example,
33% of medical institutions were almost at depletion and 13%
had run out of plastic face shields, with hospitals using

4. numerous tactics to try to meet their demand, such as
purchasing in the market and requesting donations.
Findings
· A study found that of a total of 516 physicians, only 13% had
the appropriate PPE when they needed it (Savoia et al., 2020).
Specifically, the N95 and N99 were most often reported as
lacking.
· Out of 1,082 healthcare workers, 70% lacked sufficient PPE
(Martin-Delgado et al., 2020).
· 27% of nurses reported they had been exposed to posi tive
COVID-19 patients without wearing appropriate PPE (Cohen &
Rodgers, 2020). This finding was very significant to the project
because it outlined the increase of nurses reusing their masks
due to the PPE shortage and how its very unsanitary and can
cause healthcare workers and patients to become infected with
COVID.
· To help maintain safety to both the patient and healthcare
workers, many techniques have been implemented to
decontaminate equipment. According to Rodriguez-Martinez,
Sossa-Briceno, & Cortes (2020), the two best decontamination
techniques are ultraviolet germicidal irradiation and vaporized
hydrogen peroxide (p. 1528).
· Usage of PPE and how having a limited amount stored during
the pandemic had a high-risk toll on patient, nurse/healthcare
worker/visitor safety. Reports state that the morbidity rate falls
between ages 40-49 at 0.4% and increased to 14.8% for those
over 80 years old.
Validity of Qualitative and Quantitative Evidence
The quantitative evidence presented in our presentation
described the reasoning behind the PPE shortage in the United
States one being a dysfunctional budgeting model in hospital
operating systems incentivizes hospitals to minimize costs
rather than maintain adequate inventories of PPE (Cohen &
Rodgers, 2020). Also, presented was statistics of 87% of nurses
reported having to reuse a single-use disposable mask during
their shifts.

5. Recommended
Practice Change
· Ensure only the proper methods for decontamination are being
utilized
· Provide sufficient training and procedural guidelines to staff
on how to decontaminate appropriately
· Studies have shown that not all decontamination methods
currently used are effective at maintaining the integrity and
filtration of that PPE, thus interfering with patient safety
· Most effective methods to date are ultraviolet germicidal
irradiation and vaporized hydrogen peroxide (Rodriguez-
Martinez, Sossa-Briceno, & Cortes, 2020)
· Effectiveness of these methods can be measured by
quantitative data, including consistent testing, fit performance
· Measure the outcomes of this change through employee
screening and audit to ensure compliance
· Provide healthcare workers in direct contact with COVID
patients multiple sets of PPE
· Those with increased chances of infection should be
considered.
· For example, the healthcare worker labels each set of PPE
with a day of the week and only uses that set on the selected
day.
· This allows the worker to switch between supplies, while
letting the contaminants on the remaining supplies die off or
become inactive.
· Possible PPE budget change
· Current budget focuses on minimizing costs in an effort to
increase revenue
· New budgetary measures would consider interests of
employers, employees, and patients in unison in order to be
safer and more efficient
· Feasibility may be an issue, depending on the hospital
Suggestions for Implementation
In order to prevent shortages of PPE and increase inventory the
following measures or approach should be implemented:

6. •Change the costing-model methods where hospitals use the
profit motive when considering the purchase and maintenance of
PPE inventories
•Enact laws that will enforce governmental agencies to maintain
and distribute sufficient PPE to prevent future shortages and
decrease costs. This would also help the government coordinate
and supply states and hospitals with needed equipment.
•Add financial incentives so PPE producing manufacturers can
be encouraged to develop, test and produce higher-quality,
reusable PPE.
•Give OSHA authority to enforce protocols around PPE, such as
requiring employers to get the correct equipment size for each
health care worker
In Conclusion
· PPE is essential in promoting safety within the hospital
environment.
· Aids in the preventing of the spread of infection in the
hospital setting
· Provides a barrier for patients and employees and possible
infections
· Covid- 19 Precautions (Mask, Gown, Googles, Gloves)
· OSHA enabling for enacting proper regulations
· Including management for cost effective savings
This should be a lively discussion around the research process
and the use of evidence to
answer clinical questions. Be sure to include what you learned
from the presentation and how it
impacts clinical practice. (approximately 200
-
250 words).
Please include this reference Houser, J. (2018).
Nursing research: Reading, using, and creating

7. evidence, 4th ed.
Jones & Bartlett Learning. and please use another reference
Thank you.
This is the presentation:
Topic:
Patient Safety in the Hospitalized Se
tting during a Pandemic
Clinical Problem:
How does the shortage of PPE during the pandemic affect
patient safety compared to
before the pandemic
.
•
Ever since the February 2020, the US has been faced with a
severe shortage of personal
protective
equipment (PPE) necessary for healthcare workers battling the
COVID
-
19 pandemic.
Without proper PPE, there is an increased risk of become ill
which can subsequently reduce the
quality and quantity of care provided to hospitalized patients
(Cohen & Rodgers,
2020).
•

8. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and
Prevention there has been a total number
of 27,737,875 COVID
-
19 cases in the United States and 491,455 deaths within the last
30 days.
The shortage of PPE has had a major effect on the nursing p
ractice. One of the workarounds has
been the reuse of single
-
use disposable masks or N95 respirators. It is reported that 27%
of
nurses have been in contact with positive COVID
-
19 patients without wearing appropriate PPE
(Cohen & Rodgers, 2020).
The Rese
arch Process
•
For this assignment, it was important to have a clear and
relevant clinical problem that
tremendously impacts nursing.
•
Once we discussed different ideas, we arrived at a mutual
agreement regarding our clinical
problem and PICOT question that
we will focus the group RUA on.
•

9. Since we all completed previous research on the same clinical
problem but had different PICOT
questions, we peer reviewed articles that were relevant to the
decided group PICOT question.
•
We approved articles as a group tha
t were published within the last 5 years.
•
We all had assigned parts of the RUA to focus on but helped our
team members as needed.
The Research Process, Cont’d.
What went well?
The group communicated efficiently and in a timely manner. We
used different
means of
communication such as group chat, email and google docs, that
allowed us to proficiently execute this
assignment.
This should be a lively discussion around the research process
and the use of evidence to
answer clinical questions. Be sure to include what you learned
from the presentation and how it
impacts clinical practice. (approximately 200-250 words).
Please include this reference Houser, J. (2018). Nursing
research: Reading, using, and creating
evidence, 4th ed. Jones & Bartlett Learning. and please use

10. another reference
Thank you.
This is the presentation:
Topic: Patient Safety in the Hospitalized Setting during a
Pandemic
Clinical Problem: How does the shortage of PPE during the
pandemic affect patient safety compared to
before the pandemic.
• Ever since the February 2020, the US has been faced with a
severe shortage of personal
protective equipment (PPE) necessary for healthcare workers
battling the COVID-19 pandemic.
Without proper PPE, there is an increased risk of become ill
which can subsequently reduce the
quality and quantity of care provided to hospitalized patients
(Cohen & Rodgers, 2020).
• According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and
Prevention there has been a total number
of 27,737,875 COVID-19 cases in the United States and 491,455
deaths within the last 30 days.
The shortage of PPE has had a major effect on the nursing
practice. One of the workarounds has
been the reuse of single-use disposable masks or N95
respirators. It is reported that 27% of
nurses have been in contact with positive COVID-19 patients
without wearing appropriate PPE
(Cohen & Rodgers, 2020).
The Research Process
• For this assignment, it was important to have a clear and
relevant clinical problem that
tremendously impacts nursing.
• Once we discussed different ideas, we arrived at a mutual
agreement regarding our clinical
problem and PICOT question that we will focus the group RUA
on.
• Since we all completed previous research on the same clinical

11. problem but had different PICOT
questions, we peer reviewed articles that were relevant to the
decided group PICOT question.
• We approved articles as a group that were published within the
last 5 years.
• We all had assigned parts of the RUA to focus on but helped
our team members as needed.
The Research Process, Cont’d.
What went well?
The group communicated efficiently and in a timely manner. We
used different means of
communication such as group chat, email and google docs, that
allowed us to proficiently execute this
assignment.