A nosocomial infection which is also called hospital acquired infection Nosocomial” term can be defined an infection acquired in hospital via a patient who was admitted due to a disease rather other than that infection. (Mayon &White et al, 1988).Hospital acquired infections are known to result in marked morbidity and conformist to cause or contribute to nearly 80,000 deaths annually in the united status.(Jarvis, 1996).Health care professionals are constantly expose to microorganisms. Which can cause serious or fatal infections.(Twitchell, 2003). Nurses are frequently uncovered to different infections during the course of implementation of their nursing activities. ( Kosgeroglu, Ayranci, Vardareli, & Dincer, 2004). Many hospital acquired …show more content…
Significance of the Study:
It has been documented in several epidemiological studies that healthcare workers such as physicians, dentists and nurses are concerned in the transmission of nosocomial infections.Nurses knowledge and practices about nosocomial infection is limited. Therefore, it is necessary to further investigate the level of knowledge and practices of nurses about nosocomial infection.
In health care settings it is necessary to assess the compliance about control of nosocomial infection.. Regular updating and strengthening of infection control practices should be one of the priority function of all health care settings.The findings from this study will add to the existing literature and may be used in developing interventions to increase infection control and prevention practices.
Research question:
What are the level of nurses’ knowledge, and practices about the control and prevention of nosocomial infection in government hospitals Lahore?
Key words:
Nosocomial infection, Nurse, prevention, knowledge.
Conceptual
Researchers used nursing theories to help guide research on complicated phenomena(Connelly, 2014). After reviewing evidences collected on the topic "Antibiotic therapy and Clostridium difficile infection (CDI)", the most common theories that have been cited are, exposure to antibiotic, especiallyin patients that have been previously diagnosed with bacterial infections(respiratory, urinary and osteoarticular infections) are significanly at risk for acquiring CDI and theory for prevention cited was implementation of an Antibiotic stewardship program. Inaddition,hand hygiene, contact precaution and environmental cleaning protocols where other interventions listed. Concept Definitions Exposure to antibiotic- is operationally defined as the last time within 30 days a hospitalized patients received antibiotic therapy before the current hospital
Staphylococcus epidermidis is an opportunistic pathogen, meaning that they can cause infection more frequently and more easily in persons’ with a weakened immune system such as, HIV patients (CDC, 2015). This organism is seen primarily in nosocomial infections, also known as, hospital-acquired infections (Bukhari, 2004). This means that the organisms favors the hospital environment and is easily passed to a person while they are in the hospital. Ways that a person can get a Staphylococcus epidermidis infection is through IV’s, more commonly in drug users, catheters, and artificial equipment (Bukhari, 2004). Skin-to-skin contact can also be a form of getting this type of infection.
The causative agent in clostridium difficile is a spore forming bacteria, which can be “transferred to patients mainly via the hands of healthcare personnel who have touched a contaminated surface or item” (CDC, 2015). Reasons such as these, is why it is important to teach patients about why they are on contact isolation, and why maintaining thorough hand hygiene is essential for stopping the spread of the disease throughout the hospital. Before the teaching took place, the patient was asked if any previous knowledge was held about the topic of clostridium difficile. The patient claimed no one had explained any part of the disease process or what changes needed to be made on the patient’s end of care. The patient had never had any exposure to this disease, however, the patient seemed rather eager, and was pleased that time was being taken to teach about the importance of containing clostridium
A work environment requires more consideration for those around you and how your actions impact their health and wellbeing. It is astonishing to realise how quickly germs can spread through basic hygiene neglect. Poor hygiene can contribute towards many health-related problems. We have already explored how infection control can reduce these risks but it is always worth reminding yourself of these.
7 / D.P7: Explain how different procedures maintain health and safety in a selected health or social care setting Maintaining health and safety in health and social care is extremely important to ensure the health, safety and wellbeing of all their service users as well as other individuals service providers may come in contact with in the setting. There are several procedures that help to maintain this health and safety however they can all vary between settings for example, health and safety procedures will be slightly different and more focused on certain areas in hospitals and especially in paediatric ward compared to in drop-in centres where the needs and risk to service users are slightly different. Some of the procedures used in health and social care to maintain health and safety include; infection control and prevention, safe moving and handling of equipment and individuals, food preparation and storage, storage and administration of medication and storage and disposal of hazardous substances.
Being able to identify unknown microbes from systematic testing is what makes the field of microbiology so important, especially in infectious disease control. Using the testing procedure laid out by the microbiology field we are able to identify unknown bacteria present in our everyday lives, and along the way learn a lot about their characteristics that separate them from other types of bacteria. Being able to do this is vital in order for us to understand why microbes are present in certain places, how they are able to grow and what restricts their growth, that way they can be combatted if necessary. These techniques for determining unknowns are also important for isolating and testing infectious disease microbes in order to prevent spreading. Another important aspect of being able to identify unknown microbes is the
The spread of infection towards immunocompromised patients are definitely directly cost and quality oriented. The cost of treatment of the infection with its complications which lead to prolonged the hospital stay of patients. Not only protecting the individual workers but also the patients who exposed to. I appreciate and motivate my colleagues for getting
Yeast infections most often occur in the moist areas of the body particularly on the mouth and genital area in both men and women. These are caused by many factors including poor diet, hygiene and stress management while the symptoms include red, painful and itchy sores, lesions and rashes. The good news is that natural remedies for yeast infection are often the only methods that anybody with a yeast infection will need to treat the condition. And even when over-the-counter medications are necessary, the following natural remedies are still a must because of their preventive value. Yeast infections are less likely to occur with healthy lifestyle changes since the causes are directly addressed instead of just providing temporary relief for the symptoms.
The primary prevention is the best way to eliminate the potential for exposure. Since hand washing is the most effective mean of spread of infection, it would be my primary goal to increase the compliance of hand hygiene among healthcare workers, but also an extensive education of patients and family members on hand washing before and after touching the patient as well as afar any contact with any potentially contaminated materials (surface, body fluids or respiratory secretions). Mandatory education of patients, visitors and healthcare workers, across the system as well as cross department compliance practices are single best mean of preventing the spread of infection. For example, every patient and family member can be educated about hand hygiene, use of PPE-personal protective equipment (face mask, gowns and gloves). Although, the practices are already being utilized, I believe the compliance is poorly monitored.
Department of Health and Human Services established an objective for Healthy People 2020 to prevent HCAIs, this reflects that the U.S. health care system is committed to and serious about solving this issue. These objectives address two extremely important topics, central line-associated bloodstream infections, and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections. Also, there are other major causes of HCAIs that Health and Human Services is working on their prevention such as urinary tract infections (UTIs) associated with catheters, infections of surgical wounds and sites, C. difficile infections, and ventilator-associated Pneumonia. Researches done on HCAIs shown that we can prevent many of these infections by implementing effective strategies to eradicate it, adapting some advanced prevention tools, and following new prevention approaches. There should be a more focus on HCAIs prevention in acute care settings.
Through the learning from week 1 and week 2, I have learnt that the most frequent adverse event in health-care delivery is health care-associated infections. It is essential for us to follow the infection control practices that both patients and us are at a risk of being infected. Standard Precautions involve the use of safe work practices and protective barriers, for example, the use of personal protective equipment(PPE). At first, I think Standard Precautions are very easy. Everyone knows PPE can protect us from infections and hand hygiene is important throughout the process.
It was a satisfying moment as a nursing student to not be afraid and know how to provide safe and preventative care to reduce the risks for falls, such as having my clinical instructor, a colleague and myself to help a client that has fragile bones and was confused because of their medical diagnosis. As well, we can provide proper prevention and infection control by applying correct hygiene care after assisting a client with an infection such as clostridium difficile. What did not go well after this experience is I found out that this client had clostridium difficile and at first, I was scared that now I am at risk and will acquire this infection. Instead, I looked at it as I am overcoming my fear of the different infections and diseases I will be exposed to as a nurse and that is why learning how to perform proper hygiene is very important. This bad thought turned into a learning curve and that nothing will make me not provide safe and effective care to any client.
Hand washing or isolation of the sick persons with infections in the prevention of hospital acquired infections. 5. Does the use of hand washing, and antisepsis lower the rate of hospital acquired infections? The fifth PICOT question is selected because of the reported low compliance percentage among medical caregivers.
In all areas of healthcare, particularly in acute care settings, patients may be unable to care for their nutritional and/or hygienic needs properly. One area that is especially important to address is the perineal care of patients who are incapacitated, or otherwise unable to care for their hygienic needs independently. Normal bacterial flora can develop into an opportunistic infection if the bacteria reaches certain areas of the body. For example, a common cause of urinary tract infections (UTI) is due to Escherichia coli from the colon coming into contact with the urethra (Copstead & Banasik, 2013). If the patient is immunocompromised, elderly, sedentary, or otherwise compromised in their abilities to void, this can predispose the patient
The main reasons for developing a HCAI are poor hand hygiene by healthcare staff, medical device related infections such as intravenous lines and urinary catheters and the overuse or improper use antimicrobials. Hand hygiene is the cornerstone measure to prevent healthcare associated infection (HCAI) and it has been shown that MRSA is primarily transmitted from patient to patient via the hands of healthcare professionals (Donskey, 2009). Although hand hygiene is the simplest, most effective and most cost effective way to prevent the spread of HCAIs (Pratt et al. 2007) (Kilpatrick et al. 2013), adherence to hand hygiene among health care professionals remains low worldwide (WHO, 2009).