Infection Control Inspection Results and Improvement in Long-Term Care Facilities Experiences from Nursing Homes

DOI: 10.6524/EB.202502_41(3).0001

Hsiao-Wen Lai*, Chiu-Hsia Su, Li-Jung Chien

2025 Vol.41 NO.3

Correspondence Author： Hsiao-Wen Lai

Abstract：

    To improve the quality of care in long-term care facilities (LTCFs) and reduce the occurrence of healthcare-associated infections, Taiwan Centers for Disease Control (TCDC) has coordinated  infection control inspection programs since 2014, as well as through amended the laws, revised infection control measures guidelines, commissioned professional groups implement hand hygiene promotion programs, and organized in-person or e-learning training courses to promote LTCFs to improve the quality of infection control. In order to understand the impact of external audit mechanisms and the provision of relevant coaching resources on infection prevention and control in LTCFs, this study evaluated the implementation and improvement of infection control measures in nursing homes by analyzing the infection control inspection results in 2014, 2015 and 2019.
    The number of nursing homes underwent infection control inspections in 2014, 2015 and 2019 was 328, 188 and 358 respectively. There were 99.7%, 97.3% and 99.7% of facilities being assessed qualified in 2014, 2015 and 2019 respectively, indicating that most facilities can meet the basic requirements for infection control. The excellent rates (meeting all requirements of the inspection standards) were 24.4%, 16.0% and 46.9% respectively in 2014, 2015 and 2019. This shows that in the early stages of the inspection program in 2014 and 2015, only a few facilities  have achieved excellent results in the implementation of infection control measures. However, several years after the introduction of auditing and coaching resources, the excellent rate of facilities inspected in 2019 increased significantly compared with the previous period, indicating that the promotion of relevant policies can help improve the effectiveness of infection prevention and control in LTCFs.