Underreporting In Health Care Essay

The responsibilities of employees are to take safety measures to prevent and control the spread of infection in the workplace; this includes working safely to protect myself, other staff, visitors and individuals from infections. Employees would attend essential training that our employers offer so that we can work safely for everyone in the best way possible. Employees have a duty to have safe ways of working and put into practice such as effective hand washing, not coming to work ill for the reason that you can put other individuals at risk, not to wear jewellery when cooking or supporting service users in other activities because

Germs and many other diseases spread primarily through airborne particles, skin to skin contact, and or touching objects such as door handles, hospital buttons, or by sharing patient possessions. Nurses and other health care clinicians are constantly in physical contact with many different patients, who all have varying illness’ and diseases themselves. Many may also carry a

Safety is the state of serenity being devoid of harm or any form of event that may be considered non-desirable. In any type of institution, be it, a business, school, industry, laboratory or even the common workplace, safety plays a major role in ensuring activities run smoothly and no-one gets hurt while doing their job. Safety encompasses protection from a wide host of potential hazards which could be physical, financial, emotional or biological. In the common workplace health is a major concern and infection control is the main aim of a safety handbook. Biosafety in the work setup starts by assuming every individual is a potential source of infection.

For this study, researchers obtained 18 volunteers, all of whom were experienced health care workers. This study was completed in two separate phases, a double-gloving phase, and a single-gloving phase. Each participant was educated as to proper CDC guidelines for donning and doffing of personal protective equipment (PPE), and were able to review these guidelines and

Among reviewing CNAs at a long-term care facility, it was seen that some CNA’s did not take off their gloves between giving perineal care of a patient after the patient used the bathroom and the CNA reached for the patient’s attire to put on the patient for that day. The CNA put every patient at risk of contracting the infection and the patients clothes could have became a source of C-diff. There are many cases similar to the one above where health workers are in a rush and do not perform their job/skills that they have been taught correctly. Health workers being in a rush also is due to shortage of staff. The CNAs at the long term facility discussed in this paragraph work a 9:1 ratio, which causes challenges for the health workers to give quality care to the patients.

Each year, 385,000 needlestick injuries and other sharps related injuries are sustained by hospital based healthcare professionals; which equates to an average of almost 1,000 sharps injuries per day in the U.S. Accidental needlestick and sharps not only cause injuries, but they also carry a major risk for transmission of blood borne infections. Although virtually all healthcare workers are at risk of harm from occupational exposures such as these, the Center for Disease Control notes that nurses sustain approximately half of all needlestick injuries. While there are several precautions and regulations implemented on the administration and disposal of sharps, many

Sharps injuries (mainly needlestick), carry the risk of serious infections. Healthcare providers are exposed to dangerous and potentially life-threatening infections. Most needlestick injuries together with other sharps injuries remain largely preventable. Sharps injuries remain an important area of study since it affects a large number of healthcare providers. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 385,000 needlesticks injuries occur yearly in hospital-based environment’s (Wilburn, 2004). The utilization of an apparatus with safety made protective attributes, mandated in the United States in year 2000 has been led to decreased rates of needlestick injuries (Battles, Keyes & Grady, 2008). However, Australia remains the only nation with well developed infection prevention and control systems

Healthcare is an ever-evolving field. The debate over whether contact isolation precautions for patients who have either a methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection or a vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE) infection is one of the most recent inquiries that healthcare facilities are currently focused on. Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) – infections patients can get while receiving medical treatment in a healthcare facility, are a major, yet often preventable, threat to patient safety. On any given day, approximately one in 25 hospital patients has at least one healthcare-associated infection (Center for Disease Control [CDC] and Prevention, 2010, para 1-2). The category of protective isolation, was eliminated in the 1983 revision of the CDC’s Guidance for Isolation Procedures in Hospitals. This was based on evidence that simple protective isolation offered no advantage over routine care for most immunocompromised patients (Wigglesworth, 2003, para 6). However, some studies have identified a reduced risk of infection and improved outcomes associated with the routine use of barrier precautions, such as wearing gloves and gowns in high-risk populations.

Healthcare-associated infection requires both a change in behavior and in the organization’s culture. It should be kept in mind the the goal of a culture of safety is to reduce harm to the patients and to provide the best care to the patient. It is important that we understand why certain skills and safety measures are put into place such as washing your hands before and after each patient or encountering any soil substances. Most of the healthcare-associated infections are not done intended. Unintended consequences occur due to lack of verbal, written, or any other form of communication. Also at times the realization that something was not done correctly is kept quite due to fear of the consequences. That is why now “The Institute of Medicine” has been trying to implement that the facilities try to address situations by seeing where the error occur and trying to prevent it from happening again instead of pointing the finger and trying to blame someone (Barnsteiner, 2011).

Personal protective equipment (PPE) – actual work wear to manage risks. For e.g. gloves and face masks when patient is ill

The purpose of this paper is intended to provide a review of the above formulated topic and backed up by research compiled through scholarly peer-reviewed literature as well as supportive statistical from entities such as: the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), World Health Organization (WHO), and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Further consideration was given to areas within OSHA Bloodborne Pathogen Standards that may have contributed to the mitigation of injuries in healthcare settings as they relate to occupational percutaneous injuries. Scholarly peer-reviewed literature and journals dating from 2002 to 2015 obtained from the University of West Florida library database were used to validate the findings on the impact of needlestick injuries since the BBP revisions were enacted while further comprehending its relation needlestick injuries and potential exposure to bloodborne pathogens.

Ebola can cause disease in humans and nonhuman primates (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2014). The mortality rate for Ebola is around 59% with no cure at this time. When caring for Ebola patients, hospital employees are required to wear special protective outfit and going through advanced trainings to reduce any chances of transmission. Employees are trained to work slow and be extremely cautious while working with the Ebola affected patients. However, when performing CPR, health care professionals are exposed to dangers due to the increase activities during the resuscitation period. The gowns that a nurse wears can tear because of increased activities, respiratory hoods can be splashed with patient's bodily fluids, and the increased number of staff in the patient's room may also increase potential harms and exposures to staff outside of the

Healthcare providers receive education and training in order to develop a comprehensive understanding of the importance of adhering to evidence-based infection control guidelines. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately 150,000 patients have been impacted by healthcare providers who have utilized unsafe injection practices since 2001. Failure to follow standards of proper infection control often encompasses healthcare providers who reuse needles, syringes, or single-dose medication vials; all of which are intended to be used for only one patient and only one procedure. Each time that a clinical professional commits a safety breach, the result can be irreversible and cause severe harm with patients being exposed to blood borne viral illnesses such as hepatitis and HIV and bacterial infections which include MRSA. The CDC’s guidelines for safe injection practices are representative of very basic infection control measures. However, the CDC is called upon routinely to identify and investigate outbreaks associated with erroneous healthcare practices. During the period from 2001 through 2011, the CDC documented over 18 outbreaks of viral hepatitis which were directly attributed to unsafe injection practices

Peltonen’s (2016) defines the problem of wearing surgical scrubs, such as gloves and attire, outside of medical areas. The problem with wearing scrubs outside of medical areas is based on the spread of bacteria or other dangerous contaminates into populated areas. The article focuses on the lack of policy related to wearing scrubs outside of medical facilities due to the spread of contagious disease and infection. Peltonen (2016) is suggesting that hospital administrators create stricter policies to prevent contaminated scrubs from being worn in public or outside a medical facility.

All across the world healthcare professionals and organizations are dealing with the same issue, nursing workplace hazards and the effects it has on nurses and healthcare. Nursing Hazards have been a significant topic of discussion for many health professionals and organizations. Nurses are continuously reporting the issue of injury and illness. The duties that nurses are tasked with put them at an everyday risk of different types of hazards. The safety of employees and health organizations depends on nursing hazards being identified and managed with knowledge, skill, and assessment. It is the fundamental right of health professionals to feel safe at work and to feel safe hazards must be identified and managed. Nurses face exposure to workplace hazards such as blood pathogens and other body fluids, chemicals in the form of solid, liquid or gas, needle sticks, latex allergy, spills, equipment malfunction, the physical strain of the body, and workload. These hazards are under the broad category of biological, chemical, physical, safety, and ergonomic and work organization hazards. The following paper is going to look at workplace hazards and the effects it has on nursing staff. It will also look at how this issue that is plaguing not only the United States but the world can be managed or resolved.