Nursing Strategies for Health Care-Associated Infections

This essay discusses the key strategies for managing and preventing health care-associated infections in hospitals, with a focus on the role of nurses in implementing isolation and hand hygiene practices. It emphasizes the importance of these strategies in improving patient safety and reducing the transmission of infectious diseases. Find study material, solved assignments, and essays on nursing strategies for health care-associated infections at Desklib.

Nursing strategies for health care-associated infections
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Introduction
Management of unexpected events in the hospital care and high risks environments such
as a hospital is fundamental. Modern arena of medical care has led to increasingly complex
forms of treatments and care process leading to enhanced opportunities for improved care but
also elevated increased risks of adverse events and patient harm. Development management as
pertaining to clinical risks assessment is vital focusing on the clinical process which directly or
indirectly relates to the patient. The rise of hospital-acquired infections is critical in
undertaking clinical risks assessment in hospital care. Healthcare-acquired infections also
referred to as nosocomial infections are caused by increased morbidity to patients as they
receive treatment for various medical conditions. This essay focuses on patient’s management
practices aimed at reducing hospital-acquired infections which poses greater risks to the
vulnerable population at the ward level. Management of hospital-acquired infection can be
undertaken through isolation and hand hygiene practices in the ward. This essay focuses on
these key two strategies and the role played by nurses in implementing these avenues so as to
improve patient safety at the ward.
Key strategies
Hospital-acquired infections play a vital role in the safety concerns of both the health
care providers and patients in general. In view of increased morbidity and mortality and
increased length of stay at the ward level among the patient there is a need for improved care
and prevention of infections, various guidelines and have been developed and implemented
among the nursing personnel in critical ward areas aimed at surveying and managing infections
in the hospital (Barker et al., 2017).
Utilization of isolation control measures ensures that there are an accurate means of
assessing patient status, especially among the Intensive care unit patients units. Isolation is
critical for patients who are having immunological disorders, diarrhea, skin rashes,

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communicable diseases and carriers of epidemics strain of the bacterium (Otter et al., 2015).
Implementing this type of strategy in the nursing arena entails identifying the type of
isolation needed. In the intensive care unit, there are two types of approaches used;
implementation of protective isolation process for neutropenic and other immune compressed
patients, with the aim of lowering the chances of developing opportunistic infections. Further
another avenue is through the source of isolation through infected patients so as to minimize
potential transmission among the patients and staffs present (Masse et al., 2016).
Isolation of patients will be fundamental in the ward so as to reduce communicable
disease among the patents and the staff. Diseases in the wards can be communicated through
various forms such as contact, vehicular transmission, airborne and vector transmission.
Depending on the contagious nature of the disease the occurrence of transmission can take
place in the intensive care unit (Ronak et al., 2017).
According to the CDC, isolation is geared at protecting other patients from the
contagious nature of the diseases. Special equipment has been employed in protection avenues.
This includes protective equipment such as separation gowns and masks. Isolation in the
Intensive care unit ward, should not be mistaken with quarantine. The latter referred to the
compulsory confinement of persons (Martin-Loeches et al., 2015).
At the Intensive care unit ward, implementation of isolation will entail the creation of
isolation war which will be fundamental in separating patients from infectious diseases. The
isolation unit creation will entail locating away from the main entrance to the intensive care
unit. Placing ventilation as a form of reducing airborne infection is vital for the prevention of
transmissions (Mehta et al., 2014).
Patient isolation is often an expensive aspect towards the organization and the role nurses
have to do to implement these actions. It is often time-consuming and often uncomfortable to
patients themselves and can have an impediment towards care delivery. failure or delay in

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isolating patients with multi-drug resistant microorganism often lead to more serious adverse
outcomes. It often leads to increased risks of health deterioration of the patients.
The institutional requirements for implementing isolation wards and areas often come
with increased costs. The design of isolation wards is key to the prevention of hospital-acquired
infections. The designs and constructions of the unit, call for a placement. Incorporating
ventilations in the designs units of the isolation wards is fundamental in ensuring that there is
free circulation of air which minimizes the occurrence of diseases.
The hospital designs matters in designing isolation wards. An efficient infection and
control wards should have sufficient space between the beds so as to accommodate both the
staff and equipment, separation of beds with curtains offering appropriate and good ventilation,
sufficient sanitation control and hand washing process. Thus the physical design of the health
care facility matters as a key aspect for managing infection control measures which reduce the
transmission rates of infectious diseases. Thus developing a holistic isolation ward is
fundamental for the patients as it lowers the development of hospital-acquired infections (Lim
et al., 2015).
Thus in general nurses play a vital role in the overall prevention of hospital-acquired
infections. These forms of isolation entail management of blood contact and body fluids
secretions among patients as they form vital aspects in the prevention of transmissions and
diseases between patients and also among the health care staff.
Implementation of hand washing hygiene is critical in nursing practices. Studies have
demonstrated in developed countries that campaigns and avenues such as hand washing are
vital in reducing hospital-acquired infections. Hand hygiene has been demonstrated as an
inexpensive avenue for preventing infections. Compliance rates among studies have portrayed
increased levels of 63% while other intervention studies have reported rates between 40%-60%
(Shen et al., 2017).

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Hand hygiene practice with either water or detergent or alcohol-based sanitizers are the
key important methods of preventing hospital-acquired infections (Sickbert-Bennett et al.,
2016). various bodies such as WHO and CDC have produced guidelines for health care staffs
and nurses for implementation of hand hygiene practices (Kingston, O’Connell & Dunne,
2016). With the key importance of hand hygiene practices, hand hygiene still remains low
characterized by low adherence rates. Compliance rates across studies still remain largely
underscored with no generalized findings on the same.
The role of hand based solutions has been implemented in the recent past. However this
simple process has been largely viewed as not an important aspect independently among the
nursing professionals; there is a need for adoption of other washing methodologies so as to
reduce hospital-acquired infections (Helder et al., 2010).
As hands are the common methods of transmission in the nursing practice, hand washing
is key as a single most efficient method of preventing horizontal transmissions of infections
among the hospital patients and the nurses who offer care services (Hyland, 2017). Hand
washing practices will be entrenched in the ward through various avenues as suggested and
recommended by the World Health Organization guidelines on hand washing.
These avenues entail hand washing before touching the patient so as to protect the patient
from harmful germs contamination carried through the hands, before aseptic procedures so as
to protect the patient from harmful agents including patient germs, after exposure to fluids, thus
protecting self and the overall environment of the health care from the patient infectious germs,
after touching a patients so as to protect self and the overall health care environment and after
touching the environment of the patients which enables self protection and the overall health
care environment form the patient germs (Mehta et al., 2014).
These hand washing practices can be implemented through the following two avenues.
Hand washing can be done using soap and water when there is clear soiling with dirty and

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blood fluids. The process will be undertaken by wetting the hands, soap application and
scrubbing the fingers vigorously for an estimate of 15 seconds covering all surfaces of the hand
then running with water thoroughly and drying using a disposable towel (Hagel et al., 2015).
Another method of hand washing is using alcohol-based hand rub with solutions such as
0.5% chlorohexidine with 70% w/v of ethanol. Further usage of the combination of these two
methods is ideal as it covers protection and removable of both gram positive and gram negative
bacteria, viruses, fungi, and other mycobacteria.
Other standard precautions which have been implemented entail usage of protective gears
such as gloves, gown, mask, eye protection, and patient care equipment. Wearing of sterile
gloves are often worn after hand hygiene procedures covering the mucous membrane and the
nonintact skin and other sterile procedures such as the arterial, central and insertions of Foley
catheter (Gould et al., 2017).
Nonsterile gloves are effective for blood contact and other fluids which have potential
infectious materials. During the nursing care process, change of gloves will be necessary
especially when making position changes of the patient from the contaminated area to a clean
area. Further as a general rule, wearing gloves is undertaken for only one patient at a go
followed by proper disposal after handling the patient (Costa et al., 2017).
Gown wearing during patient care is essential in preventing soiling of clothes and skin
during the process which is likely to generate blood splashes, fluids of the body and excretions.
The sterile gown is used during aseptic procedures. Wearing of protective gears has been used
in the prevention of hospital-acquired infections among the health care staff. Mask and
adequate eye protection or face shields are important for the protection of mucous, eyes, mouth
and nose procedures and other patient care services at the intensive unit (Harris et al., 2017).
Adherence to hand hygiene practices has been undertaken in various studies. In a study
undertaken by Loyland, Wilmont, Cohen & Larson (2015), in two hospital sites, hand hygiene

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was observed to be performed by 40% of 847 observations undertaken in a hospital set up.
Adherence of hand hygiene practices was largely influenced by the nurse's attitude, knowledge,
beliefs, and work-related settings. In general, there was an observed low level of hand hygiene
adherence especially with the utilization of WHO fundamental ‘5 key moments for hand
hygiene’.
The need for institutional changes to adapt to positive changes in implementing hand
hygiene is fundamental. The organization clinical needs to ensure that there is availability if
hand washing materials, enhancing education for the nurses and the general workforces, audit
of hand hygiene practices at the facility and implementing feedback, providing extra training,
offering feedback to the nurses on the overall hand hygiene practices and general organization
on importance of hand hygiene in reducing infections. Adoption of Australian commission
initiatives on National hand hygiene initiative is fundamental towards the overall role of
reducing hospital-acquired infections.
Conclusion
Thus nurses play a vital role in the prevention of hospital-acquired infections by ensuring
that all aspects of the nursing practices are put in place and through patient nursing research.
Nurses are at a unique position to improve the overall standards of care for the patients.
Universal precautions are often are the core of nursing practice. Implementation of hand
washing hygiene and isolation practices is essential for both the registered and practicing
nurses in ensuring that there is strict adherence for the regulation of the same. Hand washing is
a key relevant weapon which nursing staffs employ in reducing hospital-acquired infections.
Adoption of effective hand washing procedures is essential in enduring that infections related
pathogens are reduced in the nursing practice. Further in critical conditions, isolation takes
center stage. Isolating patients based on the severity of their conditions is fundamental towards
the redesign of hospital-acquired infections. Existence of barriers needs to be overcome as the

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end justifies the health care beneficial effects of reducing overall hospital-acquired infections.

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