The main principle of hand hygiene is to prevent the host from infection, by reducing the reservoir of infection (MedicineNet 2018). This is most commonly achieved through the process of hand sanitation using a soap or similar substance. Infection control aims to reduce the risk of transmission of an infectious disease by implementing procedures which aim to prevent or minimise the transmission. (University of Sydney 2017)
Hand hygiene is a term that refers to any action taken to clean hands. Hand hygiene can be accomplished by either using water and a soap or soap solution, either antimicrobial or non-antimicrobial or by using a waterless antimicrobial hand rub (Hand Hygiene Australia, 2017). For hand hygiene to be effective it is not just enough to sanitize a person’s hands the sanitation must be regular and specifically used after the person coming into contact with either infectious materials or unclean objects
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Due to people in a hospital having a lowered immune system and/or a portal of entry that the infectious agent can enter through, because of this it is important for healthcare staff to continuously sterilize their hands and keep up with good hand hygiene practices so that they reduce the risk of spreading infectious material to people who have an already weakened immune system. This is important because in a hospital there is a great reservoir of infection and any microbes present in a hospital environment are more likely to have a greater resistance to anti-microbials as they are constantly used. (Centres for Disease control and Prevention 2012)
To have an infection there first must be a reservoir for the infection. If the reservoir for the infectious agent is isolated, or is eradicated, then the infectious agent will not be able to spread (MedicineNet 2018). For an infection to occur there needs to be a problem that allows infection with either the: host, microbe of the
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Show MoreV. (2000). Effectiveness of a hospital-wide programme to improve compliance with hand hygiene. The Lancet, 356(9238), 1307-1312.
“The CDC is the primary developer of national infection control and prevention guidelines, often in collaboration with its Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee, which is responsible for research and dissemination of the latest information for preventing disease transmission” (Griffis, 2013, p. 175). Infection control will continue to be a topic of discussion as long as germ transmission is still happening. Among these studies is the concern the frequent nonadherence to contact precautions is a huge issue that many studies are still very concerned about (Jessee & Mion, 2013, p. 966). The writer is also concerned with the blatant disregard for hand hygiene that appears to be happening in the medical field. What about what is best for the patient. Do the people that do not use proper hand hygiene not understand how important it
Weston, Debbie. Infection Prevention and Control: Theory and Clinical Practice for Healthcare Professionals. Chichester, England: John Wiley & Sons, 2008. Print.
Better infection control practices and hand washing techniques utilized by the general population help to reduce the incidences of easily avoidable conditions, such as impetigo caused by staphylococcal and streptococcal infections. It may be beneficial for public health departments to recommend teachers to teach students on how to properly wash hands and clean high contact fomites.
This literature review will analyze and critically explore four studies that have been conducted on hand hygiene compliance rates by Healthcare workers (HCWs). Firstly, it will look at compliance rates for HCWs in the intensive care units (ICU) and then explore the different factors that contribute to low hand hygiene compliance. Hospital Acquired infections (HAI) or Nosocomial Infections appear worldwide, affecting both developed and poor countries. HAIs represent a major source of morbidity and mortality, especially for patients in the ICU (Hugonnet, Perneger, & Pittet, 2002). Hand hygiene can be defined as any method that destroys or removes microorganisms on hands (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2009). According to the World Health Organization (2002), a HAI can be defined as an infection occurring in a patient in a hospital or other health care facility in whom the infection was not present or incubating at the time of admission. The hands of HCWs transmit majority of the endemic infections. As
Numerous studies have reported that hand hygiene reduces health care associated infection rates. Compliance to proper hand hygiene guidelines continues to be low among health care workers. To improve hand hygiene performance and have continued compliance over time, the need to find out what the barriers are need to be sought out. These may include poor access to hand hygiene information, skin irritation, forgetfulness, time constraints, a perception that hand hygiene interferes with worker-patient relationships, lack of knowledge of hand hygiene guidelines, and poor habits learned early in life (KuKanich, Kaur, Freeman, & Powell, 2013, p.
“Failure to attend to hand hygiene has serious consequences: it has a negative effect on patient safety and the quality of patients’ lives, as well as on their confidence in healthcare delivery. However, the prevalence of hand hygiene omission is still high” (Canadian Disease Control, 2016 p 1). Washing hands before and after patient contact seems like a simple solution to prevent the spread of bacteria between patients. But it is not as simple as it seems.According to new CDC data, “approximately one in 25 patients acquires a health care-associated infection during their hospital care, adding up to about 722,000 infections a year. Of these, 75,000 patients die from their infections ( CDC, 2016 p 1).” Leaving a finacial burden on Canada’s health care
Hand decontamination is the use of hand wash or alcohol rub that reduces the number of bacteria on the hands. Hand decontamination is also referred to as ‘hand hygiene’. Hand Hygiene is an integral part of nursing care, as effectively decontaminating hands significantly reduces the risk of pathogens being transferred from one surface to another, or from person to person (NICE, 2014). This means, that through practicing good hand hygiene, nurses can actively reduce the incidences of preventable healthcare associated infections, therefore improving the health and mortality of their patients.
Hand hygiene and staphylococcus infection are the main ideas and topics studied within this booklet, with hand hygiene being the main focus and Staphylococcus aureus blood stream infection rates being data to support the necessity for hand hygiene.
Whitby, M., Pessoa-Silva, C., Mclaws, M., Allegranzi, B., Sax, H., Larson, E., Seto, W., Donaldson, L. & Pittet, D. (2007). Behavioural considerations for hand hygiene practices: the basic building blocks. Journal Of Hospital Infection, 65 (1), pp. 1--8.
Medical asepsis plays an integral role in infection control within a health care facility. It includes procedures used to decrease and prevent direct contact with blood or bodily fluids and emphasizes keeping the environment clean on a regular basis (Curchoe, Astle, & Hobbs, 2014). In order to achieve optimal health, individuals depend on practices and techniques that control and ultimately prevent the transmission of infection. These practices and techniques can help avoid the transmission of infections by creating an environment that protects both health care workers and patients from communicable diseases. Good hand hygiene has been stressed as the single most important measure to prevent cross-infection to patients in health care facilities
The focus of health care is and has always been, practicing good hygiene, living a healthy lifestyle, and having a positive attitude reduces the chance of getting ill. Although there is not much prevention we can take for some of the diseases but we can certainly practice good hand hygiene to prevent infection and its ill effects. Research proves that hand washing is surely the most easy and effective way to prevent infection in health care. The question for this research: Is Hand washing an effective way to prevent infection in health care? It led to the conclusion that due to the high acuity, high patient: staff ratio, and lack of re evaluation certain units in the health care facilities cannot adhere to correct hand washing guidelines. Hand
It is evident throughout these research studies that the topic of hand hygiene is particularly relevant to nursing. Nursing has the most face-to-face, hands on interactions with patients. Since nurses come in contact with multiple patients numerous times a day it is crucial that nurses have competent knowledge regarding hand hygiene in order to prevent the spread of infections and diseases.
There are numerous of supporting evidence on hand hygiene practices and their impact on hospital-acquired infections. Research studies conclude that educating staff on compliance with hand hygiene appears to be the best way to help reduce transmission of hospital-acquired infections (Mathai, George, & Abraham, 2011). One evidence-based research study used a before-and-after prospective observational intervention study to explore the proposed innovation described below.
Using good hand hygiene is a start to making sure the patient environment is safe. “Handwashing is a fundamental principle and practice in the prevention, control, and reduction of healthcare-acquired infections” (Bjerke, 2004, p. 1). Hand hygiene aids in infection control, being as most hospital acquired infections are due to improper or absence of hand hygiene. Fox, Wavra, Drake, Mulligan, Jones, Bennett, and Bader (2015) suggest that 2.5 million deaths occur from hospital-acquired infections and of those deaths, 90,000 were preventable if the workers in healthcare would have used proper hand hygiene. Piece of mind is a mutual benefit of using hand hygiene in the healthcare setting. A nurse benefits from using hand hygiene because it would reduce the risk of that nurse contaminating other patients when going from patient room to patient room. A patient benefits from using hand hygiene because it reduces the risk of that patient spreading infection from one part of the body to another. Piece of mind is the benefit for knowing that patients and nurses are protected in healthcare facilities by using hand hygiene. Patients and nurses will benefit from using hand hygiene because it is a simple way to aid in keeping the individual healthy. The hands carry many germs and constant adherence to good hand hygiene will decrease the risk of people catching illnesses and contaminating shared surfaces (door handles, tables, and