Frequently asked questions (FAQ)

When should the prevalence survey take place in the participating hospitals?
Although this is a point prevalence survey, it is not possible or necessary to set a specific date for a nationwide survey. The survey is scheduled to take place between the 1st of May 2016 and the 31st of June 2016. If possible, the period of data collection at hospital level should not exceed 3 weeks.

Does the entire hospital have to be recorded or can a department or ward also participate?
The ECDC protocol only provides for the participation of entire hospitals with defined inclusion and exclusion criteria. This is necessary to ensure that the collected data is comparable and reprasentative. Our prepared materials and reports are also based on the participation of entire hospitals.

Does the hospital data collection have to be completed in one day?
No, the ECDC protocol stipulates a maximum recording period of 2-3 weeks. If this causes difficulties, the collection period can be extended as long as it takes place in May and June. However, the recording on a ward must be completed in one day and the recording in a hospital should be performed without major breaks or interruptions.

How often should data be collected in each ward?
Each ward should only be documented once per day for the purposes of this prevalence survey.

What tasks will the members of the organisation's internal data collection team have to perform as part of the prevalence survey?
The following tasks would be assigned to the members of the organisation's internal data collection team as part of the prevalence survey:

• Filling out a hospital information sheet regarding size, occupancy and structural characteristics of the hospital and transferring the collected data to a data processing software.
• A one-time visit to the wards of your hospital to collect the necessary data by inspecting the files and, if necessary, asking the staff of the respective ward brief questions.
• Filling out a ward form to document the overall occupancy of the ward as well as some ward characteristics (e.g. speciality) and transferring the collected data to data processing software
• Review of patient files with regard to infection-relevant parameters (e.g. diagnoses, operations/interventions and foreign bodies (e.g. catheter, tube) antibiotic treatment, microbiological findings, signs of inflammation, diarrhoea, vomiting and fever)
• Completion of a patient record form only for those patients with a currently prescribed antibiotic therapy and/or symptoms of a nosocomial infection (contains no personal data) and transfer of the collected data to a data processing software.                                                                                         
• The collected data entry forms must be kept by the hospital after they have been entered into the data processing software. The time required for the survey depends on the number of beds and, based on the experience of the last Europe-wide prevalence survey, is approx. 60-90 minutes per ward.

What are the benefits of participation for you?
You will receive your facility-specific data on nosocomial infections and antibiotic use, collected and analysed according to the latest scientific findings, in the form of a structured report including comparative European data. In addition, participation in the prevalence survey has the following advantages for you:

•Your hygiene team is trained in the recording of nosocomial infections, the use of antibiotics and the implementation of prevalence surveys
•All employees are sensitised to the topic of nosocomial infections and the use of antibiotics through the collection of data. Furthermore, they can reflect on their own situation by analysing the data in the respective wards
•You will receive a certificate stating that your hospital has shown particular interest in the detection and prevention of nosocomial infections by contributing to the database.

What dates are planned for the training of the local data collection expert units?
The following training dates and locations are planned:
17 February 2016: Berlin
23 February 2016: Cologne
26 February 2016: Munich
02 March 2016: Düsseldorf
11 March 2016: Frankfurt am Main
14 March 2016: Hamburg
06 April 2016: Berlin

The exact schedule for the individual events has not yet been finalised. The events will likely start at 10.00 am and end at around 4.30 pm. For the event in Hamburg on the 14th of March 2016, we are planning to start at 09:00 am and to finish at around 15:00 pm. The training events in Berlin will take place on the premises of the Institute for Hygiene and Environmental Medicine at Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin (Hindenburgdamm 27, 12203 Berlin). The other venues will be announced shortly.
Participation in the training courses is free of charge, but travel expenses cannot be covered by the NRZ.
We would like to point out once again that space is limited at some locations.

How many participants per hospital are required for the training courses?
A least one participant per hospital is required.

What does the validation of some hospitals by NRZ employees entail?
Im Protokoll zur Durchführung der Prävalenzerhebung seitens des ECDC wird eine Validierung der Ergebnisse einiger, der zur zufälligen Stichprobe gehörenden, Krankenhäuser gefordert. Diese Validierung erfolgt durch das NRZ und sollte nach Möglichkeit zeitversetzt am selben Tag wie die eigentliche Erhebung in den teilnehmenden Krankenhäusern erfolgen. Ziel ist es einen Eindruck zu gewinnen, wie hoch die Sensitivität und Spezifität der Teams ist, die die krankenhausinterne Erhebung durchführen. Die Termine zur Validierung werden mit den jeweiligen Erhebungsteams der ausgewählten Krankenhäuser abgestimmt.

Wann werden die Schulungsmaterialen und Erhebungsbögen zum Download zur Verfügung stehen?
Die Materialen zur Durchführung der PPS 2016 sowie die Schulungsvorträge werden nach der letzten Schulungsveranstaltung am 06.04.2016 in Berlin als Download auf dieser Website zur Verfügung gestellt werden.

Wie übermittele ich die erhobenen Daten an das NRZ?
Die Eingabe der erhobenen Daten erfolgt über Ihr Benutzerprofil auf https://webkess.charite.de/pps-ii