Nosocomial Infection Paper

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In class and in the hospital setting, the use of proper protective gear and performing hand hygiene is greatly emphasized. There is an entire section on proper handwashing technique and the importance of all persons entering or leaving a hospital room of performing proper hand hygiene. Many of the doors at the hospitals use a push or pull set up causing an individual to have to touch a potentially germ ridden item. With the emphasis on preventing the spread of infections, I wondered why hospitals have not implemented foot operated doors. The purpose of this paper is to explore the spread and prevention of nosocomial infections, and the impact that foot operated doors may have on nosocomial infections. While improvements on the prevention of nosocomial infections occurred over the last two decades, hospitals and hospital staff need to continuously evolve their methods and routine to prevent nosocomial infections. …show more content…

The CDC estimates that on any given day 1 in 25 hospitalized patients will acquire a nosocomial infections. This number translates to approximately 720,000 patients yearly (Ferenc, 2014). A nosocomial infection greatly impacts the length of the patient’s hospital stay and the cost of funding their healthcare. When looking at the impact of clostridium difficile alone, a patient’s stay is extended 2.8 to 5.5 days, and the cost is estimated at $3,006 to $15,397 per infected individual. It is estimated that 14,000 to 20,000 deaths annually are attributable to clostridium difficile (Dubberke,

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