Reflection on Infection Control Practices in Healthcare Settings

This reflective essay details a student's experience with an infection control incident during a clinical placement. The student recounts a situation where they failed to adhere to proper hand hygiene protocols after emptying a catheter bag, leading to a learning opportunity. The paper discusses the importance of infection control practices, including standard precautions, the hospital's infection control policies, staff education, and the use of personal protective equipment (PPE). The student reflects on the incident, identifies contributing factors such as the complexity of the clinical environment, and outlines an action plan to improve future practice, including enrolling in a hand hygiene course and attending infection prevention and control workshops. The essay emphasizes the critical role of hand hygiene in preventing healthcare-associated infections and improving patient safety.

Running head: REFLECTION
Infection control
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1REFLECTION
Introduction- Infection control encompasses the broad health discipline that is
predominantly focused on prevention of healthcare-associated or nosocomial infection in
hospital settings (Berríos-Torres et al., 2017). In this essay we will reflect on an incident
where we were unable to show compliance to proper infection control practices, in addition
to the experience I gained from my clinical setting.
Incident- The incident occurred during my clinical placement under the command of
registered nurse. While administering medications to a patient who had been operated for
obstructive bowel syndrome, my mentor asked to empty the catheter bag that had become
full. I stopped medication administration midway and emptied the urine, following which I
disposed it in a container present in the pan room. However, I forgot to wash my hands using
soap and water and returned to the medication trolley where my mentor had been waiting. My
mentor had been constantly monitoring my actions and was a bit upset with my performance,
following which she asked me to maintain hand hygiene and also explained its importance to
me. On reflecting at the incident I realised that the complexity of the clinical environment and
unfinished task of administering medications lead to my failure in maintaining hand hygiene.
Infection control and prevention practices at the clinical setting- At the clinical
setting where I had been placed, standard precautions were taken for preventing the
transmission of pathogens by contact with body fluids, blood, mucous membrane and non-
intact skin. The hospital had a well-defined infection control policy identifying the target
groups that had highest threats of passing along or contracting nosocomial infections. The
policy mandated screening patients suffering from respiratory diseases and diarrhoea. The
policy also focused on safe handling of sharps and needles that are a major source of
infection.

2REFLECTION
Every month, infection control education was provided to all staff that focused on
identification of common droplet-borne and blood borne infections and training them on
prevention strategies (Koo et al., 2016). Apart from staff education, there were several
leaflets pasted all across the clinical settings that focused on six steps of hand washing
developed by the World Health Organisation (Arias et al., 2016). Training sessions were also
provided on disposal of sharp items in containers that are puncture resistant, closable, leak-
proof, red coloured, and labeled with the biohazard sign (Abouseif, Hakim & Elaziz, 2019).
Isolation-appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) were made available to all
staff and interns and these commonly included waterproof face shields, gowns, shoe covers,
gloves, and face masks. All wards, nurse stations and break rooms were thoroughly cleaned
with bleach-containing cleanser that prevented accidental pathogen transmission with the
admission of new patients. The linens were changed and sanitized on a regular basis, with the
soiled linens being sent to the laundry.
Conclusion and action plan- To conclude, good hand hygiene decrease the risk of
healthcare associated infections between patients and healthcare personnel, in clinical
settings. In order to prevent such incidents in future practice, I intend to enrol at an education
course on hand hygiene for healthcare providers. I also wish to enhance my practice by
attending infection prevention and control workshops.

3REFLECTION
References
Abouseif, H. A., Hakim, S. A., & Elaziz, K. M. A. (2019). Awareness of Health Care
Workers about Infection Control Practice and Occupational Safety at a Tertiary Care
Hospital, Cairo, Egypt. Egyptian Journal of Community Medicine, 37(1).
Arias, A. V., Garcell, H. G., Ochoa, Y. R., Arias, K. F., & Miranda, F. R. (2016). Assessment
of hand hygiene techniques using the World Health Organization's six steps. Journal
of infection and public health, 9(3), 366-369.
Berríos-Torres, S. I., Umscheid, C. A., Bratzler, D. W., Leas, B., Stone, E. C., Kelz, R. R., ...
& Dellinger, E. P. (2017). Centers for disease control and prevention guideline for the
prevention of surgical site infection, 2017. JAMA surgery, 152(8), 784-791.
Koo, E., McNamara, S., Lansing, B., Olmsted, R. N., Rye, R. A., Fitzgerald, T., ... & Team,
T. I. P. T. S. (2016). Making infection prevention education interactive can enhance
knowledge and improve outcomes: Results from the Targeted Infection Prevention
(TIP) Study. American journal of infection control, 44(11), 1241-1246.