Infection Control In Health Care For World Health Organization

Infection Control Practices

Discuss about the Infection Control in Health Care for World Health Organization.

Health care has advanced considerably from what it used to be in the last century, even the last6 decade. There have been innumerable technological advances that have taken the entire world by surprise. Improvisations have been made in treatment planning, drug policies, care standards, prognosis and even in the documentation. And all thes4e additions have elevated the health care standards to a whole another level. Infection control policies are a part of the revolutionary amendments in the field of health care (Tängdén and Giske 2015).

Studies suggest that in most cases the health conditions of the patents get further complicated due to the infections they develop during their stay in the health care facility. Hence the health care authorities worldwide have taken efforts and measures to endure that the occurrence of infections can be avoided (World Health Organization 2014). This report will discuss the policies and practice regarding infection control in health care industry taking the aid o a hypothetical health care facility.

Infection control has become one of the most diligently used pursuits in the health care facility to ensure that the stay in the hospital for the patients is safe and comfortable. During the stay in the health care facilities there can be a number of infections that the patients can catch if adequate measures are not being taken to prevent it. The most frequent infections with most adverse of effects on the health and recovery potential of the patients in the respiratory tract infection, followed by the skin infections due to improper hygiene and cleaning in the health care facility. The patients also develop urinary infections in the stay and if proper infection control and hygienic care is not practices regularly elderly patients also develop infected pressure injuries as well (Rosenthal et al. 2014).

Although different local and government health care authorities have different sets if infection controls guidelines and regulations, the basic principles behind the control program remain the same. One of the most basic infection control practices used all across the globe in the hand hygiene. Followed by that the usage of personal protective equipments like gloves, gowns, masks are followed everywhere. The next most abundantly used infection control procedure is the injection safety guidelines which needs to very taken very seriously as the lack of it paves way for more serious fatal infections. Oral and respiratory hygiene practices are also quite basic in infection control. The last component of a sound infection control regime is the transmission based preventative measures that protect the patients from the contact infections and even airborne infections (Rosenthal et al. 2014). 

Basic Principles of Infection Control

The importance of infection control in the clinical practices is profound, as the studies suggest, most of the clinical complications like VAP, airway infection, COPD, urinary infections, oral infection and pressure injuries are caused by flawed infection control in the health care facility. Infection control is the fifth public health priority according to the international patient safety goals and adhering to these guidelines not only just protects the patients but also protects the visitor and the health care professional coming into contact with them.  Studies suggest that close to 40 % of the health care morbidities are due to the health care acquired infections, and it is imperative for the health care authorities to ensure that the patient seeking care do not get even more complication during their stay in the facilities that turns into fatal consequences for them (Munoz-Price and Quinn 2013).

It has to be considered that the patients in the health care facility are under the care and responsibility of the health care professionals hence, it is their responsibility to ensure that they are safe and comfortable and attain recovery instead of more complications. The role of clinical practitioner to maintain the infection control guidelines is very crucial, adhering to activities like proper hand hygiene, PPE, transmission protection will ensure that the patient dose not develop any infection while they are being assisted by the physician during the treatment. But the most elemental role in infection control program is of the nursing professionals that are responsible for caring for the patient. They need to perform hand hygiene rigorously every time they come into contact with the patient and should also wear the protective gear. Moreover the nurse should perform oral and respiratory hygiene activities and make sure that the patients do not develop urinary infections. Lastly the nurse must ensure that the syringes are sterile and new every time the patient is injected and should take extra precautions to ensure no transmission based infection takes place (Iedema et al. 2015).

In my experience of management of patient with infection control there a number o measures to be taken and each of them has a unique importance to it. For example a patient with respiratory tract infection was assigned to me and I had to take care of him until his infection was back in control. First and foremost I had to ensure that I performed infection control religiously every time I came into contact with him. The microflora of our hands can be dangerous if are transmitted to the already immunologically weak patients dealing with infection all on their own. I had to use hand wash followed by rubbing alcohol and had to dry my hands before approaching the patient and after I was done. We had to perform airway suctioning to extract the mucous accumulated and clear the airway of the patient. The equipments were properly cleaned and sterilized with alcohol and antimicrobial agents prior and after every use. The oral care of the patient was also given much importance; I personally carried out oral cleaning with agents like chlorehexin. It is very important to choose the right antimicrobial agents and medication for the patient, as not all antibiotics suit everyone. I also ensured that the health care professionals encountering the patient like the doctor, respiratory ward nurse and equipment care nurse, to follow the infection control guideline properly such as the hand hygiene, usage of PPE, environmental infections control (Iedema et al. 2015).

Importance of Infection Prevention

There are different hand hygiene policies that are being adapted in the health care facilities worldwide and each one o them have their own importance.

Studies suggest that almost more than 50 % of the infectious micro flora that have the potential to cause infections reside on our hands. Microbes are ubiquitous and everything we touch in our everyday activities can be the breeding ground for microbes. Hence it is extremely important to perform hand hygiene with a mild antimicrobial hand wash to ensure that the microbes on our hands do not transmit to the patient who already has impaired immunity due to the health condition he or she is suffering with (De Angelis et al. 2014).

This injury is considered to be one of the most prevalent casue of transmission based infections and the guidelines for this injury is to clean the wound with plain water, sterilize it with alcohol or any other antimicrobial agent and cover it to ensure it is not exposed to airborne microflora. In health care this injury is very common due to the abundant usage of hypodermic syringes and the health care professionals must follow this policy and dispose of the needles after first use diligently (De Angelis et al. 2014).

The health care equipments are also breeding ground for microbes and should be cleaned frequently and periodically with sterilizing agents to ensure that the patient do not get infected due to coming into contact with contaminated equipments (Cheng et al. 2015).

The uniform policy of the health care facility enables the health care professionals to take heed of the usage of personal protective equipments like gloves, or protective clothing, eye gear, face masks, and caps. This policy will be elemental in protecting both the patients and the professionals caring for them, ad adhering to this policy along with the rest of the policies will be a significant contribution from the health care staff to ensure safe and better care for patients (Berend et al. 2013).

Conclusion:

On a concluding note it can be said that there are a thousand different scenarios in the health care sector where a patent can get infected during their stay in the hospital however, there are different measures and policies in the health care scenario that have improved the statistics for infection control in the health care facilities. In my work experience in the lifeline health care facility I have accumulated a wealth of knowledge and have adapted the way to like my theoretical knowledge with practical applications when dealing with patients. and from the experience that I have gained I would like to mention that hand hygiene is the first and most potent method for preventing infection in the health care facility along with maintaining respiratory, oral and personal hygiene of the patients, which also helps in minimizing the chance of infection significantly.

The Role of Health Care Professionals

References:

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De Angelis, G., Cataldo, M.A., De Waure, C., Venturiello, S., La Torre, G., Cauda, R., Carmeli, Y. and Tacconelli, E., 2014. Infection control and prevention measures to reduce the spread of vancomycin-resistant enterococci in hospitalized patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, p.dkt525.

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