Ineffective use of personal protective equipment. Essay

Ineffective Use of Personal Protective Equipment
Name
Institution/ Affiliation
Ineffective use of personal protective equipment
Personal protective equipment play a vital in protecting healthcare providers, including nurses, patients and the general public from pathogens. These pathogens include bodily secretions, excretions and infectious airborne particles spread directly from patients or patient’s environments. Research shows that healthcare providers are the common source of pathogens and the susceptible hosts of nosocomial infections (Brown, 2019). The body, hands and clothing of healthcare providers are the primary carriers of pathogens to patients and environmental surfaces. As such, the effective use of PPE acts as a physical barrier in the spread of disease-causing organisms more, especially hospital-acquired infections.
Despite the high risks of exposure to toxic and infectious agents in hospital settings such as emergency room and wards, adherence, and effective use of personal protective equipment is often low. Non-compliance and barriers to use have been associated with; individual factors such as knowledge, attitudes, beliefs and perception of risks; environmental factors like hospital workloads and availability of the equipment; organizational factors such as workplace policies, training and education programs as well corporate expectations and performance (Brown, 2019). As such, there is a need for enhancing knowledge to optimize the use of PPE, hence minimizing the risk of infection and maintaining patient safety in health facilities.
Hospital-acquired infections are a global health threat that leads to prolonged hospital stays, increased medical costs, unnecessary deaths and increased resistance of microorganisms to treatments. For example, in the United States, they account for over 1.7 million infections and 99000 deaths annually. Research shows negligence and ineffective use of PPE by healthcare providers is the leading cause of nosocomial diseases. Over 32% of these infections can be protected by useful application and disposal of PPE, particularly in the emergency departments (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2017).
...