The Nosocomial Infection Prevention Program

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

Hospital acquired infections (HAIs) are infections a person get while in the hospital, however the infection must occur forty-eight hours after admission because of the incubation period of infections (Shang, Stone, & Larson, 2015). HAIs provide an unnecessary risk to patient safety (Center for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2016). Every day at least one out of twenty-five patients in hospitals across the United States (U.S.) acquires an HAI (CDC, 2016). HAIs leads to many problems in hospitals across the U.S. One problem is HAIs can lead to patients’ deaths. In 2011 722,000 people developed at least one HAI, over half happened outside of the intensive care unit, and around 75,000 of the 722,000 died while in the hospital

Hospital-Acquired Conditions (HACs) have come under greater scrutiny in recent years as the healthcare industry is transitioning to value-based care models that emphasize the quality and safety of patient care. According to CMS (2015), hospital-acquired conditions are “(a) high cost or high volume or both, (b) result in the assignment of a case to a DRG that has a higher payment when present as a secondary diagnosis, and (c) could reasonably have been prevented through the application of evidence-based guidelines.” Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) are one type of HAC in which patients develop an infection while being treated in a healthcare setting.

Nosocomial infections are the most common complication in patients who are hospitalized in the ICU and incidence of NI is reported 15-40% in the ICU.

Impact of the International Nosocomial Infection Control Approach on Rates of Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia in Hospitals of 5 Within Argentina

Hospital-acquired infection (HAI) causes significant morbidity and mortality in developing and developed countries. There are more than 1.4 million patients who are infected by nosocomial infection worldwide (Pittet et al, 2008). The rate of hospital-acquired infection among patients in developing countries is 2-20 times higher than that reported for patients in developed countries (Damani, 2007). The southern and eastern Mediterranean area has been recognized as a high prevalence region for hospital acquired infections, in particular, those caused by Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) (Borg et al, 2007).

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC-2011), it is estimated that 250,000 CLABSIs and more than 30,000 deaths occur each year within the hospital population nationwide (p. 9). The cost for treatment of a CLABSI is estimated at over a billion annually (Borschel et al., 2005). The Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) regulated that hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) would not be reimbursed effective October 1, 2008 (CMS-2008). This generated that hospitals to implement prevention measures to reduce the risk and the ICU would be required to report all CLABSIs to the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) of the Center for Disease Control (CDC-2011).

Of significant concern is the prevalence of nosocomial infection in acutely and critically ill patients. The mouth usually provides entry for life prolonging interventions, such as endotracheal intubation for ventilation and orogastric tubes for enteral nutrition in the ICU. These interventions unfortunately require the patient to maintain an open mouth and impair the natural airway defenses. This vulnerable position, in combination with other treatments, can contribute to a fast deteriorating oral condition and a dependence on nursing to alleviate tube-related discomfort, thirst, oral lesions and the accumulation of saliva, sputum and oral bacteria. Colonization of the oropharynx is a critical factor in the development of nosocomial

Nosocomial infections can be found anywhere that is a specific location. A hospital is one of the locations where it can be found it is either a infection or toxin. Alike from these there are superbugs, not like any regular

The infections can be simple and uncomplicated, or major and lift threatening. Patients are at risk for nosocomial infection because they often have weakened immune system sand because the health care facility contains patients and equipment that harbor infection. The first line of defense is hand-washing. Hand-washing is the single most effective way to stop the spread of microorganisms. Prior to the start of hand washing it is important to make a safety check of the hands. Assess that the nails are short (cannot be seen from the palm side), jewelry is removed and skin is free of lesions. If the skin should have a small lesion, bandage the area and then double

In America and worldwide, millions of patient are suffering from hospital acquired infections also call nocosomial infection (NIs). This infection rate has high economic effect that is raising daily, rises from $6.5 to $33.8 billion within last 5 years (Spruce 2013). One in every 136 patients admitted to hospital or health facility end up with HAIs and become severely ill causing longer stay in the hospital, thereby increasing the cost of stay and antibiotic treatment. Morbidity rate of HAIs is very high with thousands died every year (Spruce 2013). The most frequently occurring hospital acquired infection is urinary tract

The lack of hand washing and/or hand sanitizing is a leading cause of nosocomial infections in healthcare facilities not only here in Nevada, but across the United States. Hand washing is one of the biggest contributing factors in stopping the spread of infections throughout the healthcare environment. Nosocomial infections could be dramatically reduced by monitoring and enforcing hand washing and/or “gel in, gel out” policies of each facility. This could also lower the length of stay per patient, and greatly reduce the medical care cost per patient.

Studies have continued to prove hand hygiene to be the most effective technique for eliminating nosocomial infections. Treatment facilities are experiencing multidrug-resistant organisms at an all time high due to a lack of proper infection prevention protocol. Nosocomial infections are the most common complication that can arise during a hospital stay (Insert citation). A majority of developing countries are facing multidrug-resistant organisms caused by the lack of infection prevention protocol and a large amount of pressure to provide health care in poor living and treatment conditions. Over use of antibiotic treatment is part of the reason large numbers of multidrug-resistant organisms are appearing in the healthcare environment. Implementing more stringent infection prevention protocol, assessing health care facilities use of proper infection control, and critically analyzing use of antibiotics will aid in elimination of nosocomial infections and decrease the average hospital stay.

Hospitals all over the country are filled with many patients with different kinds of illnesses or diseases. Therefore it is highly important members of the staff take precautionary measures when it comes to preventing an outbreak of infectious diseases. When hospitals around the country are finding the need to address infection control prevention, it is safe to say that some things may be lacking. The purpose of this paper is to gain a better insight on whether hospitals are following certain procedures that prevention infection. The author will start by identifying the source of the problem, analyze it, and offer a solution.

Application of appropriate Infection prevention strategies is essential to ensure quality patient care, patient safety, cost control, patient satisfaction and reputation of the hospital. Utilization of Evidence-based practices and reviewing the infection data and the trend will determine the effectiveness of the programs. In the United States, in any given time, one in twenty-fives hospitalize patients get at least one healthcare associated infection (HAI) and combining with all HAIs more than half infection take place