TY - JOUR T1 - Evidenced-based infection prevention and control (IPC) guidelines: are just not evidenced-based JF - Evidence Based Nursing JO - Evid Based Nurs SP - 45 LP - 46 DO - 10.1136/ebnurs-2023-103695 VL - 26 IS - 2 AU - Evonne T Curran Y1 - 2023/04/01 UR - http://ebn.bmj.com/content/26/2/45.abstract N2 - One of the principles of evidence-based guidelines (EBGs) is to enable registrants to practise effectively.1 But what if the guideline writers recommend unsafe practice? Presented here are examples of EBG failures with two examples of unsafe recommendations. The first relates to nosocomial tuberculosis (TB) from the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE), and the second to SARS-CoV-2 precautions.The NICE guidelines for TB updated in 20192 omit a recommendation to use respiratory protection equipment (RPE) (ie, FFP3 masks) unless the TB strain is drug-resistant. (NB communicability is unrelated to drug resistance.) In 2018, a report was published of cross-transmission from a patient to a healthcare worker (HCW) who followed the NICE guidelines.3 The patient and HCW met once during an aerosol generating procedure (AGP).3 This report was sent to NICE with the request that RPE be reassessed. Had there been criminal involvement, the strain analysis would have been sufficient to convict. This was not enough for NICE. Their personal communication stated: ‘we only consider systematic reviews and randomised controlled trials’. Thus, procedure recommendations and the … ER -