Microbial Cross-Contamination

In addition, the research has also relied on the laboratory data to complete this research (Garner, Jarvis, Emori, Horan, Hughes, 1998). Information given in the article, Infection surveillance in home care: device-related incidence rates were also used by the researchers to accomplish the research.

Sterile Processing compromises a service of which the medical and surgical supplies of any medical facility’s equipment and instrumentation- sterile or non-sterile are cleaned, prepared, processed, stored, and distributed throughout the healthcare facility. There are several functions of this highly skilled team perform on a daily basis from decontamination to the sterilization of high risk medical implant devices. They are the first line of defense in infection prevention for any patient receiving medical treatment in healthcare facilities. Japp (2014) affirmed the importance of properly processing medical devices performed by Sterile Processing technicians for patient safety by stating a critical point “Not following the correct process can be detrimental to the patient as the device that we are assuming is safe for the patient may all actually cause severe illness or death” (p.

Stethoscope is one of the most commonly used medical devices on a clinical setting, the environment of which is often represented a potential vector for hospital acquired infections. Scholars highlights that the sterilization of invasive equipments and the disinfection of any kind of devices before the interventions are generally ignored (Kilic et al., 2011). Among those devices, stethoscope is the widely-used equipment with the most possibility of contamination of transmitted organism. Researchers emphasize that the increasing proliferation of infection required diligent hygiene of both hands and instruments between patients to reduce hospital acquired infections (Shaw and Cooper, 2014). Therefore, a survey is being conducted with a brief nurse-directed questionnaire to review perceived reasons for stethoscope antisepsis non-compliance and stethoscope antisepsis compliance. The purpose of this project is to improve compliance with stethoscope care before and after patient contact on the Acute Medical and Progressive Care Unit (D6/5) at University Hospital in Madison, Wisconsin. The following

Cell Phones have changed the way the world operates and people are constantly improving on this revolutionary tool due to it’s large demand and ease of use; While at the same time doing so can cause new hazards for individuals.

Dirty equipment – having dirty equipment which is not cleaned between patients can spread infection very fast lots of bacteria can be spread on a blood pressure cuff for example.

Things that are used commonly by students and staff should be routinely disinfected to ensure the health and safety of the people using the provided materials. Bacteria is related to disease (American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1885) Previous studies on the surface of a high school telephone showed that the phones had an uncountable number of bacteria colonies (Yalowitz, 2003). We know that surfaces used by the public often become contaminated because of the bacteria on peoples hands. A study on the bacteria on peoples hands showed that 28% of people have fecal matter on their hands (Judah, 2010). A study done on the contamination on public doorknobs showed that over 86.7% were contaminated (Nworie, 2012). This experiment was to show us how much bacteria is on the surface of the things we use

In this study, we will focus on the possible growth of pathogenic organisms on portable ultrasound probes and possible contamination of coupling gel bottles. This endeavor will include evaluation of the current disinfecting procedures of each department where portable ultrasound equipment is routinely utilized in scanning skin surfaces of

Over the years one of the leading causes of hospital acquired infection has been attributed to the poor hand hygiene. Whether it is due to the fact that healthcare workers are not sanitizing their hands between patients that can lead to cross contamination between patients, between staff and patients, or even staff to staff. Since a majority of hospital associated infections such Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) or Vancomycin-resistant Enterococci (VRE) as are transmitted via contact and can remain on surfaces for up to thirty of more days it is very easy to transmit between patients with ineffective hand hygiene. There should be accessibility to both hand sanitizers as well as handwashing areas which would make it easy for staff, patients, and visitors to follow hand washing protocols. Studies done over the past on health care workers in reference to proper hand hygiene has shown that there is still an at least a fifty percent times in which proper hand hygiene is not performed (Ara, et al., 2016). On a daily basis a health care worker comes into contact of different microbes which are easily transmitted and according to the CDC not following the proper hand hygiene along with adequate solvent is reportedly the number one factor that contributes to HAI’s (CDC, 2015). Healthcare facilities are currently making handwashing more accessible by providing alcohol based hand sanitizers outside of patient’s rooms which are more visible to visitors and staff. Studies have shown several factors that contribute to the lack of proper hand hygiene, knowledge of the spread of infection via contact with contaminated hands, the importance of having solvents such as hand sanitizers being accessible and antibacterial soap, the understanding of the proper method involved in hand washing, understaffing is also a

Healthcare-associated infections (HAI) are a leading cause of illness and death in the United States; on any given day, 1 in 25 hospital patients has at least one HAI. The cleaning of hard surfaces is essential to curbing this affliction. Therefore, a survey examining the cleaning, disinfecting, and cleanliness monitoring practices of patient rooms was conducted based on studies spanning the period of 1990 to the February of this year. Reported in the Annals of Internal Medicine, this survey identified eighty such studies, of which 76 were primary and 4 were systematic reviews. The primary setting for most of the studies was the intensive care unit. The studies looked at the levels of contamination before and after cleaning ‘high-touch’ objects such as bed rails, call buttons, light

According to Hsu (2014), “health care-associated infections are the leading cause of morbidity and mortality among hospitalized patients” (p. 377). Almost 75,000 annual deaths are caused by the healthcare associated infections (HAIs), placing them as a seventh leading cause of death in the USA. The peri-operative nurses play a substantial role in protecting patients and healthcare workers, from agents causing infection, by breaking the chain of infection. Numerous chances exist in peri-, intra-, and post-operative settings to introduce pathogens to clients via the operative site, access of peripheral or central catheter, and the use of invasive devices. Furthermore, blood-borne pathogens can be introduced to the patients by the use of unsafe injection practices. Unsafe handling of soiled sharps or sharps without safety locking mechanisms, places the healthcare workers at a higher risk for exposure to blood-borne pathogens (Patrick and Hicks, 2013). Application of standard precaution in those clinical settings can contribute to lower risk of HAIs.

All digital devices release some form of radiation and the amount of use throughout the entire world will eventually increase the risk of cancer for everyone due to the bulk of exposure from the environment alone. Also noted was the malfunction of other electronics due to blue tooth devices being operated in their presence. Why release a product unless cleared of these issues first? Airlines always announce before take-off to turn off all devices. This is something that should be done everywhere a problem could arise and a good place to start charging a fine if not adhered to. Here’s a funny thought, what if it’s the energy field released from our bodies affecting our personal devices which in turn affects other electronic devices. Maybe researchers in the medical/technical fields need to investigate a little

The cell phones have very bad effect on the environment. The cell phones which are thrown away after not capable to work properly can badly affect our environment. The cell phones contain bio accumulative metals which become toxic over a period of time. The hazardous substances like cadmium, lead, nickel and mercury are present in cell phones which are capable of causing cancer and other fatal diseases if cell phones are not disposed properly.

Contamination may result from the healthcare workers hand or direct patient shedding of bacteria which are surviving up to several months on the surfaces. Inadequate hand hygiene of the healthcare worker before and after entering patient zone may result in cross-transmission of pathogens and patient colonization or infection (Vincenzo et al,

The risk assessment associated with e.g. detecting microorganisms in the environment and methods for monitoring microbe concentration could pose a challenge as compared to genetically modified (GM) crops (SACGM., 2015). This is because microbial reproduction and their capability for survival in wide environmental conditions is not yet studied thus, possible risks remain unknown especially once released into the environment. One would design experiments to close the knowledge gap e.g. in behaviour and the fate of microbes in the environment though it is currently a big challenge. Despite challenges in knowledge gap, conducting and designing experiments in containment is vital in acquiring sufficient data to inform synthetic biology

If one touches a laptop, he or she would assumably believe that the keyboard has the most bacteria, because it is touched the most throughout the day. Wouldn’t that be many people’s idea? According to a study done by the University of Cambridge, laptop keyboards can hold dangerous germs. The article states that computers are most likely to be contaminated with potentially pathogenic microorganisms in healthcare settings (Rutala, W. A., White, M. S., Gergen, M. F., & Weber, D. J. 2016, June 21). In addition, another article issued by the American Journal of Infection Control expresses that touch screens are more probable to contain opportunistic bacterial pathogens, since multiple hands mean multiple carriers of germs. The experimenters