Quality Improvement Essay

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Quality Improvement or QI entails changes, due to collective efforts of healthcare workers and patients, that aim to improve “patient outcomes (health), better system performance (care) and better professional development” (Batalden & Davidoff, 2007). For a healthcare facility, QI activities can include implementing and perfecting an infection control policy. The purpose of improve the infection control policy is to prevent and reduce the spread of pathogens through patient to staff, staff to patient, and patient to patient contact (Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care [ACSQHC], 2012). Following a facilities’ infection control policy involves all healthcare workers and anyone in contact with patients and used equipment …show more content…

The most important form of prevention is hand hygiene, and involves washing the hands with water and soap, or using an alcohol-based rub before and after patient contact (Hand Hygiene Australia [HHA], n.d.). Despite its effectiveness, the compliance rate of hand hygiene is poor amongst healthcare practitioners, because it’s time consuming in a busy clinic, poor access and is irritating to the skin (HHA, n.d.). To overcome this obstacle, it’s suggested that alcohol based hand rubs (ABHRs) should be accessible in work stations and near patients (HHA, n.d.). Moreover, dispensers are a trigger for healthcare practitioners and encourages hand hygiene behaviour (HHA, n.d.). A study found that hand hygiene compliance was higher if an alcohol-based hand rub dispense was in their line of sight (54 percent compliance) compared to if it was not within their field of vision (11 percent compliance) (Birnbach et al., 2010). Additionally, the issues of irritation have been overcome by the availability of ABHR compatible moisturizers, to minimize skin irritation (HHA, n.d.). This encourages staff to upkeep their skin integrity whilst practicing hand hygiene techniques (HHA,

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