Infection Control
Surgical site infections are a major issue for any hospital and the eradication of these events is the goal of hospitals and regulatory agencies. The Joint Commission completed a surveillance of the hospital and they gave specific advice regarding surgical site infection control and the results that they had gathered. This particular plan focuses on infection control because it a very critical area that can cause dire issues with patients and leave the hospital with both fiscal and reputational problems. To address the issues with infection control the Joint Commission guidelines state that

"Infection control includes the surveillance/identification, prevention and control of infections among patients/clients/residents/, employees, physicians, and other licensed independent practitioners, contract service workers, volunteers, students and visitors" (Joint Commission, 2010). This comprehensive view of infection control is an important consideration when developing a plan to ensure that all of the areas in the Joint Commission accreditation survey are…...

mla

References

Centers for Disease Control (2010). FAQs (frequently asked questions) about "surgical site infections." Retrieved from  

The central theme that is discussed is the importance of matching the patient and therapy correctly in order to facilitate the best possibility of positive treatment and healing.
The article also provides an overview of mind - body therapy and the way that it relates to the mind's ability to aid the bodily functions in fighting diseases like cancer. There are various modes of this therapy, which can include methods such as meditation, music therapy, art therapy and other aspects under the domain of mind-body therapy. The article also emphasizes the acceptance of various alternative therapeutic strategies in the fight against cancer.

The importance of matching the right patient to the right therapy is underscored by references to the necessary procedures and assessments as required by the Association of Pediatric Oncology Nurses standards. Note is also made of the three central questions that should be asked when attempting to match patient…...

mla

References

Hadaway. L.C. (2206) Keeping Central Line Infection at Bay. Nursing 2006. Vol.

36, no.4.

Ott M.J. (2006) Mind- Body therapies for the Pediatric Oncology patient:

Matching the Right Therapy With the Right patient. Journal of Pediatric Oncology Nursing. Vol. 23. no.5. p 254 -257

70% 36-38 0-0-5 Overall Rate
SIP 2a Subtotal

Measure Title

Data Period

Rate/Value

Numerator

Denominator

Missing

Excluded

Cat-E) Invalid Cases

Population

Numerator

SIP 2b Data Prophylactic

Jul-04

Antibiotic selection for Aug-04 surgical patients

CAG Sep-04-100% 10-10 0-0-33 SIP 2b Subtotal

SIP 2c Prophylactic

Jul-04

Antibiotic selection for Aug-04

Cardiac Surgery

Sep-04 0-1 0-0-42 SIP 2c Subtotal

SIP 2d Prophylactic

Jul-04

Antibiotic selection for Aug-04 hip arthroplasty

Sep-04-100% 8-8 0-0-35 SIP 2d Subtotal

Measure Title

Data Period

Rate/Value

Numerator

Denominator

Missing

Excluded

Cat-E) Invalid Cases SIP 2e

Population

Numerator

Data Data Prophylactic

Jul-04

Antibiotic selection for Aug-04 surgical patients

Knee arthroplasty

SIP 2e Subtotals

SIP 2f Prophylactic

Jul-04

Antibiotic selection for Aug-04 surgical patients

Colon Surgery

SIP 2f Subtotals

SIP 2h Prophylactic

Jul-04

Antibiotic selection for Aug-04 surgical patients

Vascular surgery

SIP 2h Subtotals

Measure Title

Data Period

Rate/Value

Numerator

Denominator

Missing

Excluded

Cat-E) Invalid Cases Population Numerator Data SIP 3a Prophylactic

Jul-04 antibiotics d/c'd within 24 hours after Aug-04 surgery end time

Overall Rate

SIP 3a Subtotal

SIP 3b Prophylactic

Jul-04 antibiotics d/c'd within 24 hours after Aug-04 surgery end time

CAG Sep-04-70% 7-10 0-0-33 SIP 3b Subtotal

SIP 3c Prophylactic

Jul-04 antibiotics d/c'd within 24 hours after Aug-04 surgery end time

Cardiac Surgery

SIP 3c Subtotal

Measure Title

Data Period

Rate/Value

Numerator

Denominator

Missing

Excluded

Cat-E) Invalid Cases

Population

Numerator

SIP 3d Data Prophylactic

Jul-04 antibiotics d/c'd within…...

mla

Bibliography

Auerbach AD. (2001) Prevention of Site Infection. Critical Analysis of Patient Safety Practices,

Classen DC, Evans RS, Pestonik SL, Horn SD, Memlove RL, Burke JP. (1999) the timing of prophylactic administration of antibiotics and the risk of surgical wound infection.. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol., 20(4); 247-78.

Delgado-Rodriguez, M. (1997). Nosocomial Infections in surgical patients; comparison of two measures of intrinsic patient risk. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol., 19-23

Gysenna, IC. (1999). Preventing postoperative infection - current treatment recommendations. Drugs, 175-85.

HCAHPS (Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems) survey offers hospitals and other healthcare centered organizations and facilities the ability to assess how patients perceive the quality of care. While hospitals have implemented this kind of survey in the past, HCAHPS allows the data to be displayed publically and provides national data to allow for valid comparisons across hospitals nationally, regionally, and locally. This data display adds pressure to hospitals to improve their quality of care and increase their accountability. Quality improvement measures are what has resulted from the increase transparency. Such common quality measures hospitals look to highlight are:
Medication econciliation/Error

Infection Control

Fall Prevention

Decrease eadmission rate

San Diego, California is where the selected home care agency is located. The California summary of HCAHPS survey results for July 2014 to June 2015 is 75, 78, 62, 69, 61, 70, 51, 85, 49, 68, 69, and 311, with a 26% response rate.…...

mla

References

Allegranzi, B., Gayet-Ageron, A., Damani, N., Bengaly, L., McLaws, M., & Moro, M. et al. (2013). Global implementation of WHO's multimodal strategy for improvement of hand hygiene: a quasi-experimental study. The Lancet Infectious Diseases, 13(10), 843-851.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/s1473-3099 (13)70163-4

Bouldin, E., Andresen, E., Dunton, N., Simon, M., Waters, T., & Liu, M. et al. (2012). Falls Among Adult Patients Hospitalized in the United States. Journal Of Patient Safety, 1.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/pts.0b013e3182699b64 

Nakamura, M., Toomey, S., Zaslavsky, A., Berry, J., Lorch, S., & Jha, A. et al. (2014). Measuring Pediatric Hospital Readmission Rates to Drive Quality Improvement. Academic Pediatrics, 14(5), S39-S46.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.acap.2014.06.012 

Weber, R. & Moffatt-Bruce, S. (2014). Medication Reconciliation Error. Patient Safety, 115-127.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7419-7_8

For this project, I elected to experience the leadership role in a clinical practice with a family nurse practitioner (FNP). Towards this end, my area of specialty will be infection prevention and control in a short-term and long-term rehabilitation facility. The relevance of this clinical experience cannot be overstated when it comes to the further enhancement of my professional capabilities. As a matter of fact, I regard it a rite of passage as I seek to gather additional insight in my field of specialization for enhanced patient care in a clinical setting. Being fully aware of the diversity of the patient-care environment, I would want to be prepared to address various healthcare-related issues and concerns in an able and professional manner. This is more so the case given that the nursing field is very broad – effectively meaning that those in this noble profession ought to be prepared to function in…...

nurse in a hospital environment -- and other healthcare workers including a student conducting a capstone requirement -- must take great precautions when it comes to infectious diseases like influenza. Not only does the healthcare professional need to protect patients, the professional must take all available steps to be sure he or she is protected before serving others in the hospital.
This is a SOT analysis of a student nurse who is following (shadowing) a Registered Nurse working on a floor where there are infectious diseases. The analysis begins with the Strengths that the nurse must exhibit while at work on her floor; followed by the eaknesses that are apparent or expected; next are the Opportunities; followed by the Threats that the student nurse must learn about and relate to.

Strengths

Being forewarned is being fore-armed for protection, and in the case of the infectious disease influenza, every fall doctors and healthcare…...

mla

Works Cited

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2012). Influenza. Retrieved November 15, 2014,

From  http://www.cdc.gov .

National Foundation for Infectious Diseases. (2010). Influenza (Flu). Retrieved November

15, 2014, from  http://www.nfid.org .

Failure to implement infection control precautions can lead to potential complications that include the spread of infection to otherwise healthy individuals within the ward or facility where the infection occurs and even out into the community through visitors who become infected (Banach, Bearman, Morgan & Munoz-Price, 2015). Thus, complications that arise from infection spreading may not be confined to the hospital or facility where they occur but can easily become an issue that impacts the outside world as well. Examples abound, whether they are influenza related, SARS-related, and so on. Communities can suffer significantly when even the simplest infection control precautions are not followed by nurses in health care facilities.
Another potential complication can be resource-related, as infection spreading can lead to a drain on resources as procedures are put in place to stem the spread and deal with contamination, quarantine and clean-up (Koutlakis-Barron & Hayden, 2016; Revolinski, Huang & Gibble,…...

If there are people, of whatever nationality, who will be found guilty of creating and scattering MD, will be subjected to penalties and/or punishment which will be imposed by the overall leader o the UN itself. More so, countries which will be proven allowing the research and development and eventual use of MD should also be asked to answer from the call of the UN.
The entire populace can also share their efforts to controlling the use of any form of MD, thereby preventing any possibility of massive deaths or environment destruction. People must voice out their concern. The people should be activist enough in letting their leaders know how they want the use of MD to be abolished. The media can play a detrimental role in airing and showing how the people, across all nations, are against any form of MD. Newspapers, magazines, TV programs, radio stations, are good…...

mla

Works Cited

Collins, Robin, 2005. A step in the right direction: the Global Partnership Against the Spread of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction. Ploughshares Monitor

Everett, R 2004. Introduction to Weapons of Mass Destruction - Radiological, Chemical and Biological. Langford Chichester: John Wiley & Sons

Kalyadin, Alexander 2003. A strategy for active Non-Proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Publication: Military Thought

In the U.S healthcare environment, the clinical practice guidelines are the effective healthcare protocol to enhance patient’s safety as well as achieving evidence-based practice. The clinical guidelines provide recommendations to the best available practice to assist clinicians and other healthcare professionals to deliver best and quality care. More importantly, the clinical practice guidelines are designed to optimize patients’ care using the systematic assessment and evidence based review to assess pros and cons of the alternative care options. The guidelines serve as the strongest resources to assist the healthcare professionals to make clinical decisions as well as incorporating evidence gained through practice and scientific investigations into patient practice.  Healthcare organizations develop the guidelines in form and policies, which are endorsed across the organization to create a platform that employees will follow and holding employees accountable to achieve a standard of care.  
Clabsi Hospital is one of the best healthcare organizations the…...

One possible explanation for the differences observed in the studies could be that the strengths of the chlorhexidine solution were different. It could also be that over time more effective techniques have been developed in the application of the solution, as the results do appear to improve over time.
There are limitations to the methodology of the study which are centered on the use of secondary data for analysis. The use of secondary data allows a wider range of data to be gathered from across the U.S. than would be practical from primary data collection which is the reason for the choice in this study. However this puts the control of several variables beyond the researcher. The results of the techniques may have been affected by the application of different individuals, departments and hospitals, all of whom may vary techniques and other factors influencing the success of these techniques. The…...

mla

References

Adams, D., Quavum, M., Worthington, T., Lambert, P., & Elliott, T. (2005). Evaluation of a 2% chlorhexidine gluconate in 70% isopropyl alcohol skin disinfectant. Journal of Hospital Infections, 61 (4), 287-290.

Brungs, S., & Render, M. (2006). Using Evidence-Based Practice to Reduce Central line Infections. Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing, 10 (6), 723-725.

CDC. (2002). Guidelines for Prevention of Intravascular Catheter-Related Infections. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report; Recommendations and Reports, 51 (RR-10), 1-34.

CDC Mission. (n.d.). Retrieved February 6, 2006, from CDC Web site:  

Nurse burnout is a common occurrence. This can exacerbate an ongoing problem that is seen in hospitals, nosocomial infections. Nosocomial infections remain prevalent for patients with extended hospital stays like those in intensive care units. An infection that starts roughly 48 hours after admission, those in intensive care units (ICUs) experience a continued rate of infection leading to increase length of stay, mortality, and morbidity. The number of patients that develop a nosocomial infection are from 7 to 10% internationally (Dasgupta, Das, Hazra, & Chawan, 2015). As such, hospitals have decided to classify nosocomial infection sites based on clinical and biological criteria.
esearch has led to the discovery of several bacterial strains that involve the formation of nosocomial or hospital acquired infections. "The agents that are usually involved in hospital-acquired infections include Streptococcus spp., Acinetobacter spp., enterococci, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, coagulase-negative staphylococci, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus, Legionella and Enterobacteriaceae family members, namely,…...

mla

References

CDC. (n.d.). HAI Data and Statistics. Retrieved from  https://www.cdc.gov/hai/surveillance/ 

Cheng, C., Bartram, T., Karimi, L., & Leggat, S. (2016). Transformational leadership and social identity as predictors of team climate, perceived quality of care, burnout and turnover intention among nurses. Personnel Review, 45(6), 1200-1216. doi:10.1108/pr-05-2015-0118

Cimiotti, J. P., Aiken, L. H., Sloane, D. M., & Wu, E. S. (2012). Nurse staffing, burnout, and health care -- associated infection. American Journal of Infection Control, 40(6), 486-490. doi:10.1016/j.ajic.2012.02.029

Dasgupta, S., Das, S., Hazra, A., & Chawan, N. (2015). Nosocomial infections in the intensive care unit: Incidence, risk factors, outcome and associated pathogens in a public tertiary teaching hospital of Eastern India. Indian Journal of Critical Care Medicine, 19(1), 14. doi:10.4103/0972-5229.148633

Problem From the onset, it is important to note that nosocomial or healthcare-acquired infections (HAIs) happen to be rather common in our healthcare settings. In basic terms, nosocomial infections could be defined as the all those infections that are acquired or contracted within the healthcare environment. To be more specific, the World Health Organization – WHO (2020) defines the said infections as all those infections that “affect patients in a hospital or other health-care facility, and are not present or incubating at the time of admission.” Further, according to WHO (2020), this category of infections could also be inclusive of infections acquired by hospital staff in the course of executing their functions within a healthcare facility. This is the definition that will be adopted in this policy brief. As the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – CDC (2018) observes, at least 1 out of a total of 31 hospitals across…...

mla

References

Andersen, B.M. (2019). Prevention and Control of Infections in Hospitals: Practice and Theory. New York, NY: Springer.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – CDC (2018). HAI Data. Retrieved from  

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – CDC (2020). States with HAI Reporting Mandates. Retrieved from  https://www.cdc.gov/hai/state-based/required-to-report-hai-nhsn.html 

Despotovic, A., Milosevic, B., Milosevic, I., Mitrovic, N., Cirkovic, A., Jovanovic, S. & Stevanovic, G. (2020). Hospital-acquired infections in the adult intensive care unit—Epidemiology, antimicrobial resistance patterns, and risk factors for acquisition and mortality. American Journal of Infection Control, 48(10), 1211-1215.

McIntosh, D.G. (2018). Healthcare-associated infections: potential for prevention through vaccination. The Adv Vaccines Immunother., 6(1), 19-27.

Stone, P.W., Pogorzelska-Maziarz, M., Reagan, J., Merrill, J.A., Sperber, B., Cairns, C. …Skillen, E. (2015). Impact of laws aimed at healthcare-associated infection reduction: a qualitative study. BMJ Qual Saf., 24(10), 637-644.

World Health Organization – WHO (2020). Health care-associated infections FACT SHEET. Retrieved from  https://www.who.int/gpsc/country_work/gpsc_ccisc_fact_sheet_en.pdf?ua=1 

https://www.cdc.gov/hai/data/index.html 

The facility should strive to bring the SSI rate down below the expected level for the types of patients and surgeries that the facility has.
Plan of Action

In order to achieve better-than-average results in the SSI rates for our facility, there are a number of tactics that can be used. The first is that the culture of the organization needs to emphasize safety to a degree greater than the current degree. As of now, there is no particular focus on SSIs, and this contributes to a culture where there is little accountability with respect to the SSI rates, or to individual SSI cases. The organization must improve the accountability, so that staff members are specifically held accountable for the mistakes that they make that result in an SSI.

Beyond culture, there are specific things that the organization can do to promote an improved rate of SSI. The first is that the…...

mla

Works Cited:

Anderson, D. (2009). Surgical site infections. Division of Infectious Diseases, Duke University Medical Center. Retrieved September 29, 2012 from http://www.hapmd.com/home/hapmdcom/public_html/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/cirugia/bibliografica-cx/20110504_articulo_2.pdf

Barie, P. & Eachempati, S. (2005). Surgical site infections. The Surgical Clinics of North America. Vol. 85 (6) 1115-35.

Harbarth, S., Samore, M., Lichtenberg, D. & Carmeli, Y. (2000). Prolonged antibiotic prophylaxis after cardiovascular surgery and its effect on surgical site infections and antimicrobial resistance. Circulation. Vol. 101 (2000) 2916-2921.

Lauwers, S. & de Smet, F. (1998). Surgical site infections. Acta Clin Belg. Vol 53 (5) 303-310.

hospitals is the spread of MSA (staphylococcus aureus). This pathogen remains a leading cause of hospital-acquired infection. Current 'typing' methods for the genome to identify the pathogen include "phage typing, multi-locus sequence typing (MLST) and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE)" but these methods "have serious limitations when used to investigate the finer details of infection outbreaks" (Price et al. 2013: 14). This is why the use of whole genome sequencing that allows scientists to create distinctions up to a single nucleotide is useful. Whole genome sequences can be used to classify and characterize genetic differences in a far more refined fashion than previous methods "and additionally provides information about the genetic basis of phenotypic characteristics, including antibiotic susceptibility and virulence" (Price et al. 2013: 14). Local-level awareness of the history of disease transmission allows a more carefully matched protocol for treatment as well as improves tracking. "Combined with epidemiological data,…...

mla

References

Blot, S.I. (2002 et al.). Outcome and attributable mortality in critically Ill patients with bacteremia involving methicillin-susceptible and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Archives of Internal Medicine, 162(19):2229-35.

Price, J.R. (2013) .Whole genome sequencing in the prevention and control of Staphylococcus aureus infection. Journal of Hospital Infection, 83: 14-21.

Essay Topic Examples
1. The revalence and Impact of Surgical Site Infections in Modern Healthcare:
    This essay would explore the current data on the frequency of surgical site infections (SSIs), their impact on patient outcomes, length of hospital stays, and the resulting financial burden on healthcare systems. It would also delve into the importance of SSI surveillance and the effectiveness of prevention strategies.

2. Antibiotic Resistance and Surgical Site Infection revention:
    This topic deals with the challenge of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the context of SSIs. The essay would examine how resistance impacts the prophylaxis and treatment of infections, the role of antibiotic stewardship, and the development of new strategies to prevent SSIs in an era of increasing resistance.

3. Surgical Site Infection Control rotocols: A Comparative Analysis:
    An analysis of various infection control protocols would be the focus here, comparing the effectiveness of different perioperative practices, including skin preparation, surgical techniques, wound care,…...

mla

Primary Sources

Mangram, Alicia J., et al. \"Guideline for Prevention of Surgical Site Infection, 1999.\" Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology, vol. 20, no. 4, Apr. 1999, pp. 250-278.

Ban, Kiwon, et al. \"Risk Factors for Surgical Site Infection After Spinal Surgery: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.\" Scientific Reports, vol. 7, 2017, Article number: 10311.

Anderson, Deverick J., et al \"Strategies to Prevent Surgical Site Infections in Acute Care Hospitals: 2014 Update.\" Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology, vol. 35, no. 6, June 2014, pp. 605-627.

Leaper, David J., et al. \"Surgical Site Infection - A European Perspective of Incidence and Economic Burden.\" International Wound Journal, vol. 1, no. 4, Dec. 2004, pp. 247-273.

Kirkland, Katherine B., et al. \"The Impact of Surgical-Site Infections in the 1990s: Attributable Mortality, Excess Length of Hospitalization, and Extra Costs.\" Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology, vol. 20, no. 11, Nov. 1999, pp. 725-730.

Infection control specifically refers to stopping the spread of disease in healthcare settings and during health care procedures, such as surgeries.  It is a catchall phrase that refers to a wide variety of behaviors or practices that can result in the elimination or reduction of disease transmission in these settings.  We are happy to provide you with some suggested topics and titles for an essay about infection control.

Essay Topics

Best hygiene practices for pre-surgical prep of skin to prevent surgical-site infections

Does the routine use of masks in non-surgical medical examinations and routines reduce infectious disease transmission....

Infection may be the biggest health risk for people who have wounds, making wound care critical to ensuring a positive patient outcome.  Wound care not only improves mortality but can also impact social and physical expectations for a patient, which means that appropriate wound care can be one of the biggest issues impacting doctors or nurses who deal with any type of injury.  However, wound care focuses substantially on infection control, because infections present the greatest long-term hazards from wounds.

Generally, wound care is broken down into four or five basic steps.  Those....

Outline for an Essay on Norovirus

Introduction

Hook: Begin with a captivating statistic or personal anecdote related to norovirus.
Thesis statement: Clearly state the main argument of the essay, which should focus on the significance, impact, or management of norovirus.

Body Paragraph 1: Epidemiology and Transmission

Define norovirus and explain its characteristics.
Describe the epidemiology of norovirus, including its prevalence and geographic distribution.
Discuss the modes of transmission, emphasizing the role of contaminated food, water, and surfaces.

Body Paragraph 2: Symptoms and Complications

Describe the typical symptoms of norovirus infection, such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and fever.
Explain the potential complications of norovirus,....

1. The importance of proper hand hygiene in preventing infections
2. The role of vaccinations in infection control
3. Strategies for preventing healthcare-associated infections in hospitals
4. The impact of antimicrobial resistance on infection control efforts
5. The role of environmental cleaning in preventing the spread of infections
6. The challenges of controlling infections in long-term care facilities
7. The importance of proper infection control practices in dental settings
8. The role of education and training in promoting infection control
9. The relationship between infection control and patient safety
10. The effectiveness of outbreak response measures in controlling infectious diseases.
11. The impact of technology and innovation on infection control....