The factors contributing to missed care and non-compliance in infection prevention and control practices of nurses: A scoping review.

Background: There is growing concern about missed nursing care and its negative impacts on patient care and nursing and organisational outcomes. Research in the area continues to grow, with a greater focus on reliable measurement, evidence-based interventions and sensitive outcomes. The relationship between missed care and adverse patient outcomes is undeniable, including increased mortality levels, and hospital acquired infections. The link between hospital acquired infections and non-compliance with infection prevention and control guidelines is also widely acknowledged. The idea of non-compliance as an element of missed nursing care has not been closely examined and this relationship is explored in this review. Objectives: The aim of this study is to identify the shared factors related to both nurse non-compliance with infection prevention and control practices and the recognised research field of missed nursing care, here in relation to infection prevention and control. Methods: A scoping review methodology was selected to help explore and map the research evidence on non-compliance with infection prevention and control practices, and missed nursing care in relation to infection prevention and control. Results: Five key themes were identified which impact on both missed nursing care and non-compliance in the area of infection prevention and control. These included (1) Organisation of Nursing Staff and Resources; (2) Workplace Environment; (3) Nursing Care Context; (4) Managerial and Inter-Professional Relationships; and (5) Individual Nurse Factors. These shared themes underline the relationship between the concepts and suggest a shared research area. Conclusion: Missed nursing care in the area of infection prevention and control, overlaps significantly with the research area of infection prevention and control non-compliance. This suggests that rather than being approached as separate or distinct entities, these research areas should be acknowledged as related or overlapping, enabling more focused attention to reducing levels of both.