Evidence Based Nursing Research on Healthcare Associated Infections and Handwashing

Running head:NURSING
Evidence Based Nursing Research
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1NURSING
Table of Contents
Healthcare problem..........................................................................................................................2
Significance of problem...................................................................................................................2
Current practice...............................................................................................................................3
PICO table.......................................................................................................................................3
PICO question..................................................................................................................................4
Number and Type of articles...........................................................................................................4
Research and non-research evidence...............................................................................................5
Evidence matrix...............................................................................................................................6
Recommended practice change.....................................................................................................11
Key stakeholders............................................................................................................................11
Barriers..........................................................................................................................................11
Strategies for barriers.....................................................................................................................12
Indicator to measure outcome........................................................................................................12
References......................................................................................................................................13

2NURSING
Healthcare problem
Healthcare associated infections (HAIs) are the infection acquired by a patient in a
healthcare facility, such as hospital, nursing home, outpatient clinic and rehabilitation facility.
Such infections include central line-associated bloodstream infections, catheter-associated
urinary tract infections, and ventilator-associated pneumonia. HAIs are major complications of
healthcare and have been linked with high mortality and morbidity (Chen et al., 2017). On an
annual basis, 1 in 25 US hospital patients are diagnosed with atleast any one of the types of
infection related to hospital care. In addition, infections also occur in other forms of healthcare
settings (Liu et al., 2017).
Significance of problem
Healthcare associated infections (HAIs) are caused by drug-resistant pathogens that
contribute to significant burden on the healthcare system of the United States. The social and
economic impact of the high incidence of HAIs has been mostly negative. The issue has been
greatly compounded by the recent decline in the development of novice antibiotics that target
certain pathogens (Holý& Forsythe, 2014). Healthcare agencies in the country are making many
attempts to restrict the occurrence of HAIs through diverse approaches including prevention
practices, financial incentives and surveillance systems. However, much remains unachieved till
date as the control of HAIs has not been upt-to-the-mark. Percival et al., (2015) opined that it is
now the responsibility of respective healthcare settings to adhere to evidence-based strategies
that can reduce the increasing rate of HAI.

3NURSING
Current practice
Handwashing has been denoted as a positive technique to keep patients safe from HAIs
across health care settings. Research indicates that regular handwashing among healthcare
professionals, especially nurses, is a low-cost and simple action that can prevent the rapid spread
of microbes responsible for causing HAIs (Chen et al., 2017). In the present care setting,
compliance to handwashing protocols is low, and there is a poor level of awareness regarding the
importance of handwashing among the professionals.
Impact
HAIs have unquestionably made substantial impacts on the overall healthcare system and
patient outcomes. Quantification of the economic burden of the disease has been attempted in the
past. The main impact of HAIs on the healthcare setting are attributed to unnecessary utilization
of resources and burden on healthcare staffs. This is related to increased length of patient’s stay
at the healthcare setting due to infection. There is a negative psychological impact on the patients
as well as they suffer from depression and poor health outcomes (Septimus et al., 2014).
PICO table
PICO Question
P(patient/problem) Healthcare associated infection
I(intervention/indicator) Handwashing