Health Care-Associated Infection

Roy, L. (2016). Maintaining hand hygiene to prevent the transmission of infection. Journal of Aesthetic Nursing, 5(6),

Dirty hands is the common source of spreading infection. It is very important to keep hands clean to avoid getting infected and spreading infection in the community. It is important to wash hands to keep hands clean. There are two ways to keep hand clean, one way is wash hands with soap and warm water while rubbing hands together for minimum 15 to 30 seconds. Indication of washing hands with soap and water is when hands are visibly dirty, before and after eating, feeding, using the toilet, after coughing or sneezing, after using gloves, taking care of patients. There is also second way to clean hands, but it is advisable to wash hands with soap and water all the time, but it can ignore when soap and water is not available so it is okay to use hand gel or foam in the form of sanitizer. This helps to clean hands or kill germs when hands are not visibly dirty.

Implementation of patient care practices for infection control is the role of the nursing staff. Nurses are responsible for maintaining hygiene, consistent with hospital policies and good nursing practice on the ward and monitoring aseptic techniques, including hand-washing and use of isolation. It is also in their scope of practice to promptly report to the attending physician any evidence of infection in patients under the nurse’s care and initiating patient isolation and ordering culture specimens from any patient showing signs of a communicable disease, when the physician is not immediately available. Limiting patient exposure to infections from visitors, hospital staff, other patients, or equipment used for diagnosis or treatment and maintaining

As a leader in health care, it is important that employees have the proper education and training for compliance with infection control. An infection control practitioner should be assigned surveillance of infections, calculate infection rates, and report these numbers to the appropriate personnel. Clinical nurses, such as nurses, should have periodic evaluations to ensure they are practicing patient safety. There are many other key factors that should be implemented in health care facilities to improve infection control. First is hand hygiene; there could be random observers periodically monitoring a certain floor or department for hand sanitation practices. Secondly, is the health care environment. This includes, making sure employees are sanitizing surfaces and equipment, educating visitors and families on infection control measures, and properly using personal protective equipment. Improper use, wear, and removal of personal protective equipment can cause serious health consequences to the worker and the patients, which means employees need be continuously trained and educated on this equipment.

Health Care providers must implement infection control at all times. This is essential in order to avoid any sources of contamination that would put patients at risk for infection as well as all hospital personnel. There are two important aseptic techniques: Medical Asepsis, and Surgical Asepsis. The first one includes hand hygiene, use of gloves, masks, gowns and routine

Infection control and prevention extends beyond treating the patient. It encompasses all who work and visit the facility including medical staff, administrative staff, volunteers, vendors, and

Infection control practices and procedures should be followed at all times to control infections and prevent them from spreading. Most infection control policies include: wearing the appropriate personal protective equipment for each situation, carrying out risk assessment to reduce risk of exposure to infections for all individuals, disposing of waste properly, and hand hygiene before and after any physical contact. By following these policies in residential care settings, residents are less likely to contract an

Weston, D., & Ebrary. (2008). Infection prevention and control: Theory and clinical practice for healthcare professionals. Hoboken, NJ;Chichester, England;: John Wiley & Sons.

This paragraph explains ways to prevent infections contracted from hospitals. The number one way to lower the spread of infections contracted through a hospital is correct sanitation customs. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), a federal government agency has come up with guidelines in order to safeguard against the expansion of infections and diseases for patients and the workers (Hedman, 2010). It is mandatory for administrators of hospitals to write a disclosure policy to protect the workers from infections like Hepatitis B and other infections and bad bacteria. Minimizing infections that the workers have can aid in stopping the spread of

In their systematic review and meta-analysis about the burden of health-care-associated infection Allegranzi et al., (2011), concluded that health care associated infections (HCAIs) are the most frequent threats to patient safety worldwide. Therefore, Raveis et al., (2014) established that minimizing HCAIs is every health care worker responsibility.

Healthcare associated infections have an impact on patients - how? Can be prevented greatly with compliance to hand hygiene protocols (REF).

An intact skin is a natural barrier to infection, consequently all care workers need to be aware of the potentially damaging effects of frequent hand washing and the use of alcohol hands rubs. Care workers should protect and maintain their skin integrity and minimise the risk of skin irritation by observing the following . Always wet hands before applying soap. Rinse hands thoroughly after washing to remove all traces of soap. Use good quality paper towels to dry hands thoroughly, including the area between the fingers. Regularly use aqueous based hand creams to keep the skin moist and supple. Do not wear gloves for any longer than is necessary for the task. Always fluids, secretions and excretions, or chemicals. Use a moisturising hand cream

Handwashing has been clearly proven to prevent different diseases and is one of the most beneficial ways to protect others including oneself from infections. As simple as hand washing with plain or antimicrobial soaps appears, it has been projected that it can cut down hospital acquired infections. Hand hygiene can decrease the risk of respiratory infections by 16% (CDC, 2016). The CDC published in 2016, significant reduction at the national level close to all infections included compared to baseline data (CDC, 2016). Moreover, reductions in hospital on-site MRSA 13%, bacteremia and a 8% with C. difficile infections based on 2014, HAI Data and Statics (CDC, 2016). Again, the compliance rates when it comes to hand hygiene hospitals the law mandates to report their findings. In 2011 the statics showed, one in twenty-five hospital patients have had an HAI, with 772,000 HAI in the major acute hospitals in the United States (CDC, 2016). Various parameters are said to have an effect on hand hygiene compliance. Furthermore, it is estimated 30,000 deaths each year from nosocomial infections (CDC, 2016). According to CDC, one of them is said to be the time required for procedure education. The hospital personnel has been recommended to re-educate, provided with hand hygiene products that are effective. These entail the alcohol-based hand rubs. Alcohol sanitizers are antiseptic products with some level of alcohol ranging between 60 to 85 percent. This is meant to avoid the spread of pathogens (WHO, 2016). A shift in hand hygiene agent had been said to be beneficial for the hospitals which have not only exhibited a high workload, but also a great demand of for hand hygiene which can cause laziness and rush to wash their

. Bolyard EA, Tablan OC, Williams WW, Pearson ML, Shapiro CN, Deitchman SD, Hospital Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee (HICPAC). Guideline for infection control in healthcare personnel, 1998. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 1998;19:407–63

Day after day, pPatients who are being treated for one an illness or injury often develop infections that are unrelated to their original diagnoses. Such infections are commonly referred to as healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). HAIs are infections linked with the delivery of care in hospitals and other health care facilities. The medical, financial, and emotional effects of these infections can be destructive, and overwhelming and possibly deadly to the patients, as well as their caregivers, families, and loved -ones, as well as potentially deadly for affected patients.