Research supports that evidence-based education innovation can improve hospital-acquired infections by improving staff knowledge, thereby improving compliance with hand hygiene; the evidence-based practice (EBP) innovation proposed is to reduce infection in the hospital by educating staff about the importance of hand hygiene through the implementation of an education program classes. This proposed evidence-based practice (EBP) will enable nurses and other healthcare providers to obtain the information needed to incorporate proper intervention to help eliminate hospital-acquired infections.
There are numerous of supporting evidence on hand hygiene practices and their impact on hospital-acquired infections. Research studies conclude that educating staff on compliance with hand hygiene appears to be the best way to help reduce transmission of hospital-acquired infections (Mathai, George, & Abraham, 2011). One evidence-based research study used a before-and-after prospective observational intervention study to explore the proposed innovation described below.
The CDC and the World Health Organization (WHO) are committed to improving hand hygiene in healthcare facilities. They partner with each other to create a tool on hand hygiene self-assessment. This tool allowed health-care facilities to track their progress through the use of the WHO Hand Hygiene Self-Assessment Framework (HHSAF). The Framework is a tool to obtain a situation analysis of hand hygiene promotion and practices within an individual health-care facility, according to a set of indicators.
There was a 10 month research conducted in 2011 with health-care facilities around the world. They were invited to participate in a global survey based on the completion of the HHSA...
... middle of paper ...
...-income countries. The overall mean score reflected intermediate level of progress. Most facilities were at intermediate or advanced levels showing a 65% of progress. Hand hygiene compliance was measured through direct observation in 59% of facilities and alcohol-based hand rub consumption was regularly monitored in 53%. Posters featuring hand hygiene indications and technique were displayed in the vast majority of facilities.
Works Cited
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2011). Hand Hygiene in Health Care Settings: CDC-WHO Partnership to Assess Hand Hygiene Infrastructure at Health Care Facilities. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/handhygiene/partners/who-partnership-assess-hand-hygiene.html
World Health Organization. (2011). Hand Hygiene Self-Assessment Framework Global Survey. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/gpsc/country_work/hhsa_framework.pdf
The health care organization with which I am familiar and involved is Kaiser Permanente where I work as an Emergency Room Registered Nurse and later promoted to management. Kaiser Permanente was founded in 1945, is the nation’s largest not-for-profit health plan, serving 9.1 million members, with headquarters in Oakland, California. At Kaiser Permanente, physicians are responsible for medical decisions, continuously developing and refining medical practices to ensure that care is delivered in the most effective manner possible. Kaiser Permanente combines a nonprofit insurance plan with its own hospitals and clinics, is the kind of holistic health system that President Obama’s health care law encourages. It still operates in a half-dozen states from Maryland to Hawaii and is looking to expand...
Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) is a gram-negative, rod-shaped aerobic bacterium. It is a primary cause of hospital-acquired infections. P. aeruginosa is primarily a nosocomial pathogen. It also acts as an opportunistic pathogen, which can only infect a host that is immunocompromised, due to an underlying disease or medication. Although, P. aeruginosa can cause damage to virtually any tissue in the body, it almost never affects the tissues of healthy individuals. It is a problematic pathogen in hospitals; infecting individuals with cancer, burn wound, catheters and cystic fibrosis. P. aeruginosa is most recognized for its resistance to a wide range of antibiotics. In its planktonic form, P. aeruginosa has been found to have many virulence factors. However, P. aeruginosa within biofilms have been found to have a resistance to antibiotics 1,000 times greater than that of its planktonic counterparts [4]. Infections that are caused by bacterial biofilms are very persistent and very difficult to treat.
Module two deals with external influences in healthcare administration and the conflicts that may cause lack of growth in the organization. External influences can range from society, stakeholders, staff, and patients. Health administrators should be in agreement with staff and physicians to maintain proper ethics and safety for everyone. Society has a big influence of healthcare organizations with spending their money towards health insurance, medication, treatment services and exams. As long the healthcare organization has a well reputation built on trust, then consumers will spend on that healthcare organization. The stakeholders that take part in external influences on ethics are the vendors, technology specialists, maintenance, insurance
The significant increase in antibiotic resistance amongst pathogens is making it very difficult to successfully treat infections, especially in intensive care units (ICU’s). Prevention of the spread of infection among patients within the hospitals is fast becoming amongst the most important methods for controlling infections. This requires the identification of the different acquisition routes, that is, routes by which bacterial colonization occurs. In this article, the authors analyzed the relative importance of various bacterial acquisition routes that resulted in colonization of the bacteria using data from individual patients.[1] This article was chosen because of the impact it can have on the healthcare system if the knowledge obtained from the algorithm regarding the most prevalent colonization routes in hospitals can help in the preventing spread of infections. Also the ability of the algorithm to incorporate specific patient characteristics makes it both novel and appealing.
“The CDC is the primary developer of national infection control and prevention guidelines, often in collaboration with its Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee, which is responsible for research and dissemination of the latest information for preventing disease transmission” (Griffis, 2013, p. 175). Infection control will continue to be a topic of discussion as long as germ transmission is still happening. Among these studies is the concern the frequent nonadherence to contact precautions is a huge issue that many studies are still very concerned about (Jessee & Mion, 2013, p. 966). The writer is also concerned with the blatant disregard for hand hygiene that appears to be happening in the medical field. What about what is best for the patient. Do the people that do not use proper hand hygiene not understand how important it
Healthcare-associates Infections (HAIs) are infections that patients acquire during the course of receiving healthcare treatment for other conditions and can be devastating or even deadly ("CDC - HAIs the Burden - HAI", 2013). An HAI was defined as a localized or systemic condition that (1) results from an adverse reaction to the pres¬ence of an infectious agent(s) or its toxin(s), (2) that occurs during a hospital admission, (3) for which there is no evidence the infection was present or incubating at admission, and (4) meets body site-specific criteria (Klevens et al., 2007, p.2).
This literature review will analyze and critically explore four studies that have been conducted on hand hygiene compliance rates by Healthcare workers (HCWs). Firstly, it will look at compliance rates for HCWs in the intensive care units (ICU) and then explore the different factors that contribute to low hand hygiene compliance. Hospital Acquired infections (HAI) or Nosocomial Infections appear worldwide, affecting both developed and poor countries. HAIs represent a major source of morbidity and mortality, especially for patients in the ICU (Hugonnet, Perneger, & Pittet, 2002). Hand hygiene can be defined as any method that destroys or removes microorganisms on hands (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2009). According to the World Health Organization (2002), a HAI can be defined as an infection occurring in a patient in a hospital or other health care facility in whom the infection was not present or incubating at the time of admission. The hands of HCWs transmit majority of the endemic infections. As
Prevention of hospital-acquired infections: review of non-pharmacological interventions. Journal of Hospital Infection, 69(3), 204-219. Revised 01/20 Haugen, N., Galura, S., & Ulrich, S. P. (2011). Ulrich & Canale's nursing care planning guides: Prioritization, delegation, and critical thinking. Maryland Heights, Mo. : Saunders/Elsevier.
Better infection control practices and hand washing techniques utilized by the general population help to reduce the incidences of easily avoidable conditions, such as impetigo caused by staphylococcal and streptococcal infections. It may be beneficial for public health departments to recommend teachers to teach students on how to properly wash hands and clean high contact fomites.
This essay critically examines the relationship between interventions and the dubious increase in hand hygiene compliance by healthcare professionals by using the framework of evidence-based practice to evaluate previous literature, identify barriers, and note mechanisms used to measure effectiveness of interventions. The systematic review, Interventions to improve hand hygiene compliance in patient care, conducted by the Cochrane Collaboration investigated innovations to improve hand hygiene compliance within patient care. The review included 2 original studies with an additional two new studies (Gould & Moralejo et al., 2010). Throughout the review, it was affirmed that while hand hygiene is an indispensable method in the prevention of hospital-acquired infections (HAI), the compliance among nurses’ is inadequate. Nurses are identified within the public as dependable and trustworthy in a time of vulnerability due to their specialised education and skills (Hughes, 2008).
Medical asepsis plays an integral role in infection control within a health care facility. It includes procedures used to decrease and prevent direct contact with blood or bodily fluids and emphasizes keeping the environment clean on a regular basis (Curchoe, Astle, & Hobbs, 2014). In order to achieve optimal health, individuals depend on practices and techniques that control and ultimately prevent the transmission of infection. These practices and techniques can help avoid the transmission of infections by creating an environment that protects both health care workers and patients from communicable diseases. Good hand hygiene has been stressed as the single most important measure to prevent cross-infection to patients in health care facilities
“Researchers in London estimate that if everyone routinely washed their hands, a million deaths a year could be prevented” (“Hygiene Fast Facts”, 2013, p. 1). Hands are the number one mode of transmission of pathogens. Hands are also vital in patient interaction, and therefore should be kept clean to protect the safety of patients and the person caring for the patient. Hand hygiene is imperative to professional nursing practice because it prevents the spread of pathogens, decreases chances of hospital-acquired infections, and promotes patient safety. There is a substantial amount of evidence that shows why hand hygiene is important in healthcare
There are many different health care systems around the world; however, not all the health care systems provide for those who live in poverty. An effective healthcare system provides a high-quality and affordable health services, as well as better access and faster treatments. The primary goal for health services is to provide immediate treatments and better results, that’s why it is quite challenging to provide care for all the population, if the health care system fails to provide the needs for all the citizens. The health care industry is continuously changing, in the attempt of improving the access to care and efficiency for individuals. Despite the fact, that health service researchers try to address problems such as, providing access
The Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) Program is an essential force maximizing quality, patient centered care, and safety throughout the Veterans Affairs North Texas Health Care System (VANTHCS). The VANTHCS “... is a progressive health care provider in the heart of Texas ... we serve more than 117,000 Veterans and deliver 1.4 million outpatient episodes of care each year to Veterans in 38 Texas counties and two counties in southern Oklahoma” (“VA North Texas,” 2016, para. 1). The purpose of the IPC Program is to guide a facility-wide approach toward identifying, preventing, controlling, and eliminating healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). This approach is facilitated through infection control (IC) practitioner’s role-modeling behaviors of assessing, supporting, guiding, and/or directing healthcare providers (HCPs) in the application of evidence-based practices (EBPs) to prevent HAIs. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), HAIs are often preventable adverse events that pose a major threat to patient safety (“Centers for Disease,” 2016). As a result, IC practitioners recognize the importance of preparing nurse faculty to engage clinical staff in the application of EBPs to prevent infections.
Hand hygiene is important for everyone despite where they are, but it is of vital importance within a healthcare facility. Visitors, physicians, nurses, any and all workers within the health care facility, and patients are all expected to use proper hand hygiene for not only their health but for others as well. “The skin can never be rendered sterile, but it can be made surgically clean by reducing the number of microorganisms.”3 By simply washing your hands for a good three to five minutes can help to decrease nosocomial infections. Nosocomial infections could be very dangerous and life threatening; therefore, they would never be taken lightly within the hospital; unfortunately that’s exactly what