Hosptial Acquired Infection

Through medical advances in technology and practice, nurses have been afforded the opportunity to provide lifesaving care to patients. However, this lifesaving care comes with the risk of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). Generally speaking, HAIs are infections directly related with the delivery of healthcare and are often caused by viral, bacterial or

Healthcare is an ever-growing, booming industry and as medical technology advances so should our standards of care. Once known as hospital acquired “nosocomial” infections, Healthcare Associated Infections (HAIs) are still afflicting the very patients we are to be treating. These patients could be our loved ones, friends, and family so to say that, “1 in 25 hospital patients have at least one HAI in a U.S. acute care hospital” (CDC, 2015), is still one too many.

Microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses, fungi, parasites can be transmitted to patients via poor quality cross infection control measures e.g. inadequate cleaning, disinfecting and sterilising of instruments, equipments and surfaces around the hospital

Hospital acquired infections are one of the most common complications of care in the hospital setting. Hospital acquired infections are infections that patients acquired during the stay in the hospital. These infections can cause an increase number of days the patients stay in the hospital. Hospital acquired infections makes the patients worse or even causes death. “In the USA alone, hospital acquired infections cause about 1.7 million infections and 99,000 deaths per year”(secondary).

As the name implies, healthcare-associated infections are usually contracted while obtaining health-related care. They occur in a variety of settings, including hospitals, ambulatory surgical centers, dialysis centers, outpatient care centers, long-term care facilities, and the general population (USDHHS ODPHP, 2016, June 3). Of the previous listed settings, the highest risk of contracting an HAI occurs in acute care hospitals (“HAI Data and Statistics,” 2016). Information from the article on “HAI Data and Statistics” (2016) report that there were over 721,000 cases of healthcare-associated infections in acute care hospitals, in the US, in 2011 (see Appendix A for HAI occurrence

Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) have been found to be number ten on the list of the leading causes of death in the United States. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have estimated that in a year HAIs cause 1.7 million infections, 99,000 associated deaths, all of which cost approximately $30 billion (Masud & Vykoukal, 2011). HAIs are the kind of infections that are acquired by patients during the course of receiving treatment for other conditions. HAIs in most cases affect those patients who are receiving medical surgical treatments or those with reduced host defenses as a result of age, underlying diseases, or even other conditions. For many years those patients that were affected by these infections were reported

Health care acquired infection (HCAI) exerts a massive impact on the health care services delivery and improvement of its quality. It has been reported among leading culprits of prolonged admission, increased mortality, long-term disability and complications, emergence of multidrug resistant organism (MDRO), and they are costing healthcare services a great deal of money.(1, 2) At a given time, occurrence of HCAI is 15.5 per 100 patients in developing countries and 5 to 12 per 100 patients in developed countries. It is estimated that approximately 1 out of every 20 hospitalized patients will contract an HCAI.(3) In a summery and updating reviews done in 2014 by WHO concluded that more than a quarter of the MERS-cov infections have been

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), one out of twenty five patients have obtained a health care associated infection (HAI) during their visit at a healthcare facility. This is approximately 1.7 million HAIs per year, just including the United States. From these incidents, roughly 17% result in death (Allen, 2015). Healthcare associated infections have become a major patient safety issue around the world. Patients are obtaining infections under the care of healthcare professionals when they are seeking help for a non-related issue. HAIs are some of the most common

A problem identified in my clinical experience at the Veterans Administration Medical Center was improper infection control measures when a patient was on isolation precautions. HAIs are something that can be prevented but are still very prevalent today. They increase rates of increase hospital stays, cost, readmission, morbidity, and death. The Center for Disease Control notes, “HAIs affect 5 to 10 percent of hospitalized patients in the U.S. per year. Approximately 1.7 million HAIs occur in U.S. hospitals each year, resulting in 99,000 deaths and an estimated $20 billion in healthcare costs.” (CDC, 2015) HAIs can come from cross contamination from healthcare workers to the patients, patients to other patient’s, family members to patients,

The reason for this paper is to find out what hospital acquire infection is, the harmful effects it can cause and the active role nurses can take to help prevent this types of infection. Nosocomial infection is not an infection the patients were admitted with but appeared 48 hours or more during admission in the hospital. The infection is caused by organisms that invade the patient’s body defense mechanism, which can happened by an invasive procedures, cauterizations, or wounds etc.

Healthcare associated infections (HAIs) which is also known as Nosocomial infection is defined as infection due to hospital care/ hospital environment and or cross infection from other patient, which the patient was not carrying before getting admitted to the hospital. Infection that the patient acquires after 48 hours of the admission in the hospital from its environment, within 3 days of hospital discharge or within 30 days of post-surgery discharge is HAIs. Patient who are more susceptible to HAIs are immunocompromised patient, patient admitted to ICU, post-surgical patient, infant and elderly population to name a few. Predominantly occurring HAIs are lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI), urinary tract infection(UTI), surgical site infection

ReferencesBarrett , S. P. (2005). What's new in infection control? Medicine Publishing Company,33(3), i-iii. Retrieved July 5, 2006, from http://www.atyponlink.com/MPC/doi/abs/10.1383/medc.2005.33.3.iBebbington, A., Parkin, P.A., Chichester, L. J., & Kubiak, E. M. (2003). Patients'case notes: look but don't touch. Journal of Hospital Infection. 55, (4).

Controlling spread of infection is the key for the individual or the health care provider and washing hands is the first step. Hand washing is the most single most important strategy for preventing infection transmission. HAIs are the most common complication of hospital care. However, recent studies suggest that implementing existing prevention practices can lead to up to a 70 percent reduction in certain HAIs. The financial benefit of using these prevention practices is estimated to be $25.0 billion to $31.5 billion in medical cost savings (Healthypeople.gov 2020).

Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs), also known as nosocomial infections, are any type of infection a patient develops while receiving treatment for another diagnosis. HAIs are considered the most frequent type of infections in healthcare. Healthcare-associated infections do not only appear in the healthcare setting, but can appear after discharge and while the patient is receiving treatment at home. Many of the HAIs occur when a patient needs an invasive procedure (catheter, central line, and surgery.) The risk of these infections can be decreased if the healthcare providers follow strict aseptic technique when needed, washes hands before and after any contact with a patient, and by monitoring the patient for the slightest sign of an infection.

A nosocomial infection — also called “hospital-acquired infection” can be defined as an infection acquired in hospital by a patient who was admitted for a reason other than that infection (WHO, 2002). However, nosocomial infections are not just limited to hospital settings, but any place patients receive medical treatment. This ranges from advanced treatment facilities and hospitals to pseudo-clinics with the most basic setup. According to healthline.com, nosocomial infections occur up to 48 hours after hospital admission, up to 3 days after discharge, up to 30 days after an operation, or in a healthcare facility where a patient is receiving treatment for reasons other than the infection (Stubblefield, 2014). Anyone in that setting is at risk