Healthcare-associated infections

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Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) have been a persistent problem in the United States for decades. Yang et al. (2013) stated that “Nosocomial infections or healthcare-associated infections are defined as a localized or systemic condition resulting from an adverse reaction to the presence of an infectious agent or its toxin. There must be no evidence that the infection was present or incubating at the time of admission to the acute care setting” Also if infections occur within 48 hours of being discharged from the hospital or a healthcare setting, then it is considered as a healthcare-associated infection (Daud-Gallotti et al., 2012). Healthcare-associated infections can be easily prevented, however they are held accountable for hundreds of thousands of deaths for the past few decades. They have been known to increase rates of drawn-out hospital stays, cost, morbidity, mortality, and readmission to the hospital (Montoya & Mody, 2011). When antibiotic-resistant organisms (AROs) are involved with these types of infections, the rates are expanded even further and usually cause many more fatalities (Srigley, Lightfoot, Fernie, Gardam & Muller, 2013). Healthcare-associated infections can occur in any type of healthcare facility. It usually begins from cross contamination from healthcare providers to the patient, however, it can come from other patients, hazardous medical procedures, and contaminated surgical tools too. Healthcare workers play the leading role in preventing healthcare-associated infections. Srigley et al. (2013) stated that “Healthcare worker (HCW) hand hygiene is considered to be one of the most important interventions for the prevention of HAIs and AROs. However HCW hand hygiene is typically poor, with a median compliance of 40%, and few interventions have been demonstrated to result in significant and sustained improvement” In order to

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