Reducing the Risk of Healthcare-Acquired Infections

Healthcare-Acquired Infections
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
Healthcare-Acquired Infections
Healthcare facilities consider patient safety to be a top priority. Majority of the facilities take part in activities that are aimed towards improving the effectiveness of healthcare services provided, as well as the health and safety outcomes. Achieving this level of care requires hospitals to develop infection control and prevention activities. The issue of Healthcare-Acquired Infections (HAIs) is significant, especially because of the high number of patients reported to have been infected in hospitals. Wide-ranging incidences reveal that hospitals in the U.S report close to 1.7 million HAI cases, with 99,000 of the infected reported to have died from the infections (Mauger et al., 2014). Similarly, incidences of individuals acquiring infections from local hospitals are common and can be associated with several factors, including poor prevention strategies (Bardossy, Zervos, & Zervos, 2016). The high number of infections calls for effective quality improvement strategies as well as preventive interventions that can be useful in minimising infections. A large number of professionals believe that hospital-acquired infections are preventable through the implementation of evidence-based practices (Bardossy, Zervos, & Zervos, 2016). One of the most effective means of preventing such infections is hand hygiene.
Rationale
Fungal, bacterial or viral pathogens are the main causes of hospital-acquired infections, with the most common being surgical site infections, urinary tract infections, pneumonia, and bloodstream infections (Habbouch, & Guzman, 2018). Among the factors that can increase the risk of getting infected when in hospital is the frequent visits to the hospital and staying in critical care units (Martin-Loeches, Rodriguez, & Torres, 2018). Eventually, patients may encounter several pathogens from the hospital facility, the staff, or other patients. Since the infections are spread through frequent contact, hand hygiene can be an effective method of prevention (Lane, Blum, & Fee, 2010). There is sufficient evidence that proves that hand hygiene can minimise the cases of patients acquiring infections in hospitals (Lane, Blum, & Fee, 2010). The relationship between healthcare-acquired infection reduction and hand hygiene has been demonstrated in several settings for more than 150 years (Ellingson et al., 2014; Lane, Blum, & Fee, 2010). This makes hand hygiene a highly significant component in preventing hospital infections and an effective quality improvement strategy. Nurses play a key role in preventing HAIs since they frequently interact with infected patients (Ellingson et al., 2014). However, nurses and other hospital staff frequently ignore hand hygiene practices. The level of adherence to sanitisation is considered to be lower than 40 per cent, even in highly resourced hospitals. The low percentage can be linked to factors such as understaffing, the lack of proper guidelines, and inconvenient location of sinks (Lankford et al., 2003).
Intended Improvement
Model of Improvement
The Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycle will be the most appropriate model of improvement i...