Infection Control Controversy

Keeping our hands clean is one of the most effcient and important steps we can do as humans to avoid getting sick or spreading germs to other people. Unwashed hands spread many diseases such as the flue, E. coli, and salmonella. Unfortunately, hand hygiene is still one of today’s most leading causes of infection in health care facilities. The risk of clinicians, patients, and visitors not complying with hand hygiene protocols creates a practice problem for nurses and their patient care. The cause of health care infections, also known as, health care-associated infections (HAIs) are increasing along with the rise of the inability to control or treat infections that are multi-drug resistant. Lack of proper hand hygiene is a major problem in clinical settings sourcing from critical care divisions where the most contaminations are prevalent. This paper will discuss how hand hygiene affects the nursing process and solutions of how to better prevent HAIs within the nursing scope of practice.

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

2.Infections are unavoidable in the care home as there are so many risks. Potential risks can include the poor hygiene of a resident. This can be caused by them refusing to wash or bathe. Food poisoning is a risk if the kitchen and food surface aren’t kept clean at all times. Another potential risk is not cleaning equipment after use, as this can cross contaminate others causing harm to them. You must also make sure you dispose of clinical waste in the correct way, in the correct bins and tie bags up straight away as this can lead to a risk of infection.

Across the spectrum, patients can acquire an infection through their bloodstream, surgical sites, urinary tract, respiratory, and even gastrointestinal. Per Word Health Organization (WHO), “healthcare workers are often the conduit for the spread of such infections to other patients in their care.” Furthermore, numerous patients may transmit microbes without any noticeable signs or symptoms of an infection which reinforces the need for hand hygiene. (WHO, n.d.). If our facility embraces more proficient approaches for improving hand hygiene this proves we are more open to a closer inspection of our infection control practices in

The priority nursing diagnosis of hospital acquired infection is risk for any kind of infection. One of the main goals for each patient in the hospital is the patient will remain free of infection as evidence by absence of heat, pain, redness, or swelling in any area of the patient’s body during each nurse’s shift. (care plan book). Frequently hand washing is the best intervention for preventing infection. Hand washing reduces the risk of transmission of pathogens by inhibiting the growth of or killing the microorganisms. (cb)Proper sterile technique during urinary

There are multiple reasons that play into patients acquiring these infections. One of those reasons being the characteristics of the patients. For example infants, the elderly, people with compromised immune systems, and patients that have devices inserted for therapeutic purposes are all at greater risk to contract an infection (Feasey & Molyneux, 2011). The devices that are inserted for therapeutic purposes are a huge factor related to hospital acquired infections. Urinary catheters are the top device to cause an infection; in fact 97% of urinary tract infections are due to catheterization. 87% of people that obtain a bloodstream infection receive the infection from a central line. Lastly 83% of pneumonia acquired in the hospital is linked to the use of mechanical ventilation (Chang et al., 2011). Then there is the health care worker side that plays into effect. One of the number one reasons an infection is created or spread is because a health care worker did not properly wash his or her hands or their patient’s hands. This seems like an obvious way to prevent an infection but yet it still remains one of the top factors that leads to a hospital acquired infection. Hand hygiene is not the only hygienic issue. Health care workers do not always follow proper personal protective equipment guidelines. They may not always don gloves when

Hi Ushma. I enjoyed reading your post. I agree that hospitals have an enormous amount of paperwork which can be overwhelming, but they are necessary. I agree that hospital is starting to move away from paper to a paperless system. When I go to the doctor, I do not have to fill out too much paper work because they swipe my insurance card for my insurance information and the medical assistant keys in any other information that they need from me directly into their laptop. I agree hand washing and sanitizing are the best way for the medical staff to not only from contracting an infection, but from spreading an infection to other patients as well. I too would ask the medial staff to wash their hands if they came into my room and did not do so.

Reducing the risk of healthcare associated infections can be implemented a few different ways. One way of prevention is proper hand hygiene. By setting this goal to improve the compliance of hand hygiene, employees will ensure a lower percent of healthcare associated infections. This not only reduces the risk for infections but it ultimately reduces the risk of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. (May 5: Hand Hygiene Day, 2014) “About 2 million people in the United States obtain infections that are resistant to antibiotics and over 22,000 people die from these infections every year” (May 5: Hand Hygiene Day, 2014). Hand hygiene isn’t just about washing your hands; there are important precise steps to follow. The Joint Commission has issued specific guidelines to follow when performing hand hygiene and require organizations to comply with the guidelines to remain accredited. (Joint Commission, n.d.) Many aspects of hand hygiene being monitored are for example when to wash, how long to wash for, which cleaning agents to use, when it is appropriate to use disposable gloves, and whether or not it is acceptable to wear

There are innumerable ways in which infections and bacteria can be spread throughout many environments, especially in hospitals settings, this generally occurs as patients are often vulnerable. In this paper, the prevention of bacteria, infections and infection control will be discussed, as an act to hinder the spread of infections using hand hygiene. Strategies to prevent the spread of infection will be also discussed and explored through the use of an example case study of Mrs. Jones.

The Royal College of Nursing lists hand hygiene as one of its ‘Standard infection control precautions.’ These essential principles provide the foundation of safe practice, thus protecting staff and clients from harmful micro-organisms that may cause infection. (2012, p. 8) HCAI’s (healthcare associated infections) are one of the most important public health issues worldwide and cause hundreds of unnecessary fatalities annually. The prevalence of these infections is highest an

A student nurse’s role within a healthcare setting is to ensure that they are following the measures in place to minimise infections spreading. Olin, J. (2003). Throughout student nurses training they will undergo mandatary training for infection control. As a student, it is key that you display good hand washing, this is following the five steps in the Ayliff technique and ensuring that the aseptic approach is done when touching wounds or applying dressings. The way you handle infected items is also a key way to minimise the risk of cross contamination this is important in a student nurse’s role and all other staff within the health sector, as well as this making sure that you are removing used gloves and aprons should be put into clinical

Hand Hygiene in Healthcare Settings provides healthcare workers and patients with a variety of resources to reduce the spread of diarrheal and respiratory illness. Also, the latest technological advances in hand hygiene measure. Healthcare workers are obligated to continue to use healthcare antiseptic products recommended by CDC and HICPAC infection control guidelines and consistent with institution policy

Improving care can be tricky but necessary for the success of the organization. One way to improve the condition of the hospital is to ensure that patients are thoroughly examined to receive all necessary care during the initial hospital visit to lessen the chance of people returning to treat an ailment that could have been treated the first time. According to Rigby, Pegram, & Woodward, (2017), Hand washing can significantly reduce the spread of hospital acquired infections nonetheless, evidence suggests that many healthcare workers are not following the hand washing recommendation (p. 448). The organization must reiterate the importance of hand washing procedures to the staff but also inform them by avoiding this process is harmful to the

Research shows that Surgical site infections are preventable. According to the CDC, hand hygiene is the simplest approach to preventing the spread of infections and needs to be incorporated into the culture of the organization. Ensuring the use of infection control prevention is an important component of nursing care. Infection control prevention policies must be communicated undoubtedly to all employees. Staffers who do not comply must be re-educated to ensure that all are complying. Speaking up and pointing out that a nurse forgot to wash his or her hands, or notifying the surgical team that surgical instruments were not adequately cleaned may seem like small issues; but at the same time, not acknowledging a break in a sterile technique could mean the difference between life and death for a patient. One hospital that was struggling with high levels of infection related to surgical procedures, implemented a pre-procedure huddle as a team. This innovate way decreased the spread of infection and was a great way to improve the quality of care for patients. As mandated by the Joint commission, infection prevention personnel should provide multidisciplinary education on SSI prevention, to all team members, including

Recent studies show that at any time, over 1.4 million people worldwide suffer from hospital-acquired infections (Public Health Ontario). In Canada alone, approximately 250 000 patients every year contract infectious micro-organisms from their healthcare providers (Nagel 18). At London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) we take pride in providing world class care in a safe, comfortable environment for patients. However, between 2008 and 2010 the LHSC still had between 20 and 30 per cent non-compliance to proper hand-washing protocol (Nagel 20). This data is very troubling considering it is following the launch of “Just Clean Your Hands” pilot project. As student nurses and volunteers of the LHSC team we are equally responsible to increase hand-washing compliance.