Prevention And Prevention Of Infection Prevention

| UNIT 4222- 264 THE PRINCIPLES OF INFECTION PREVENTION AND CONTROL | | | |

To expose to the chance of injury or loss for example using harsh chemicals like bleach in a work in a care home their is always a risk of someone venerable not knowing what substance it is and drinking it or using it for something other than cleaning

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

Burke J.P. (2003). Infection control- a problem for patient safety. New England Journal Medicine, 348(7):651-656.

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.

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.

I must take all reasonable steps to ensure that the PPE is returned, once worn to the appropriate location and that the items are not removed from the workplace.

Not Washing hands frequently especially after dealing with any bodily fluids. Staff not staying at home if they are sick. Use a tissue, or cough and sneeze into your arm, not your hand. Turn away from other people. Open wounds not being covered especially on the hands. The incorrect use of PPE or the none use of PPE. Sharing personal items between each other. Incorrect food prep and storage.

The occurrence and undesirable complications from hospital acquired infections (HAIs) have been well recognized for the last several decades. The occurrence of HAIs continues to escalate at an alarming rate. HAIs originally referred to those infections associated with admission in an acute-care hospital (formerly called a nosocomial infection). These unanticipated infections develop during the course of health care treatment and result in significant patient illnesses and deaths (morbidity and mortality); prolong the duration of hospital stays; and necessitate additional diagnostic and therapeutic

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

Can you imagine the misery of being admitted to the hospital, only to become infected with a separate illness? Healthcare-associated infections are defined as infections not present and without evidence of incubation at the time of admission to a healthcare setting. (CDC, 2016) These infections are acquired as an indirect result of the necessity for the patient to endure a hospital stay. While the rate of these types of infections has decreased in recent years, nearly 1.7 Million cases of healthcare-associated infections are reported annually according to the Center for Disease Control. Healthcare-associated infections are a threat to patient safety and with just under 100,000 deaths a year resulting from healthcare-associated infections, more needs to be done to protect the people we have sworn to do no harm to.

1.1 Explain employees’ roles and responsibilities in relation to the prevention and control of infection

As a hospital, quality care should be a priority for patients that are going to be treated for a sickness, or any type of procedure that is going to take place. A lot of times a patient gets an infection while they were at the hospital, on top of being treated for what they original came in for. Health facilities should be environments of healing, which they are, but they also have tons of various types of germs and infections, which grasp onto individuals that have weak immune systems/are sick. Some infections that are at hospitals are Tuberculosis, VRE, VAP, C-Diff, UTI, and MRSA. Preventive measures to stop the spread of the infections is lacking tremendously in the work and aim to provide safety for all patient’s health. The work

Chapter 12 caught my attention because it informs you how infections develop into humans and types of agents to stop the infection. Infection and pathogens are created by microorganisms that enter the body. Microorganisms that can cause this are bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites. These microorganisms can enter through your nose, mouth or skin so it is recommended to always wash your hands and receive vaccinations. Antibiotics are not as effective like it was back in the days, because microorganisms learned to be resistant to it. There is antibacterial, antiviral and antituberculosis agents to control microorganisms. Antibacterial agents destroys microbes and prevent it from multiplying. Antituberculosis are agents that treat diseases that

Healthcare acquired/associated infections (HAIs) are caused by viral, bacterial, and fungal pathogens. These are infections we can get while we are receiving medical treatment in a healthcare facility. These infections can be serious, but are also very preventable. The most common HAIs are central line-associated bloodstream infections, nosocomial pneumonia, catheter-associated urinary tract infections, and surgical site infections. The most frequent mode of transmission of hospital-acquired infections is by direct contact. These infections are very serious and can possibly lead to death, so prevention of these infections are extremely vital. This is why hand washing, wearing gowns, and practicing sterile techniques is so important