Four Types of Hospital Acquired Infections (HAIs)

Hospital-Acquired Infections
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Hospital-Acquired Infections
Part A
Four Infections
The evidence report produced by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) (n.d.) investigated four hospital-acquired infections (HAIs); Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP), surgical site infections (SSI), catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI), and central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI). According to the CDC (n.d.), these four are the most common types of HAIs, posing a significant threat to patient safety during hospitalization. Failure to address these infections can be detrimental to the healthcare system. According to Manoukian et al. (2018), they are associated with increased hospital stays and additional healthcare costs in an already costly healthcare system. Thus, many health agencies are involved in preventing and monitoring these infections to enhance patient safety.
Prevention of Healthcare-Associated Infections
According to the report, the use of audits, feedback, and provider reminder systems was shown to be effective in preventing HAIs. Healthcare organizations can either use audits and feedback alone or with reminder systems (AHRQ, n.d.). Also, the report revealed that these strategies are most effective when combined with provider education and organizational change as the base strategies. The strength of evidence in support of audits and feedback alone or combination with provider reminder systems was moderate (AHRQ, n.d.). These findings reveal that the prevention of HAIs requires a multi-strategy approach.
Healthcare workers must use a combination of strategies to reduce the rate of HAIs and enhance patient safety effectively. As Fernando et al. (2017) reveal, the long-term prevention of HAIs is highly dependent on multi-modal prevention strategies that increase adherence to evidence-based HAIs prevention guidelines. Audit and feedback are suitable for enhancing adherence among healthcare workers through antimicrobial stewardship and hand hygiene. According to Livorsi et al. (2021), audit and feedback involve assessing and reviewing a healthcare provider's antibiotic-prescribing behavior and providing constructive feedback to ensure the provider practices safe antibiotic-prescribing. This is essential in preventing the over-prescription of antibiotics, which results in increased drug resistance. Thus, audits and feedback can help reduce antimicrobial resistance associated with increased hospital stays due to HAIs. Donati et al. (2020) also reveal that audit and feedback improve hand hygiene among healthcare workers, thus preventing the spread of infections within a healthcare setting. However, according to Fernando et al. (2017), these strategies also require healthcare workers to be educated on evidence-based guidelines. They also require organizational and behavioral changes to ensure adherence to guidelines.
Part B
Title
Effects of Probiotics on Incident Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia in Critically-Ill Patients: A Randomized Clinical Trial
What is the Study About?
The study is about the prevention of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) among critically il...