Reasons for not following isolation precautions:
(1) lack of the awareness
(2) aware but intentionally not followed
(3) barriers
Lack of awareness, with a person unaware of:
(1) the presence of a pathogen or diagnosis making isolation appropriate
(2) the appropriate isolation precautions for a particular patient
(3) how pathogens spread
(4) benefits of isolation precautions
Aware of precautions but fail to follow because the person feels that precautions:
(1) do not work
(2) are not necessary
(3) are too inconvenient
(4) impersonalize care
(5) have a negative impact on patients
(6) interfere with care and reduce its quality (for example, people in isolation may not be seen as often by nurses)
Additional barriers to implementation:
(1) those in charge fail to implement or enforce the precautions
(2) concern about the cost involved
(3) a sudden change in patient condition gives insufficient time to don barrier protection
(4) time required to implement
