Question

TOPIC:How does handwashing prevent intensive care unit patients in the hospital from nosocomial infection compare to usage of hand sanitizer to reduce the risk of infection in the first two weeks?

DIRECTION: Write a paper that should be a 2-3 pages that describes the clinical problem and the following:

Reason for choosing this topic, possible integration of the evidenced that you found in clinical practice, methods to evaluate the effectiveness of implementation of hand hygiene.

Answer 1

INFECTION CONTROL AND PREVENTION: The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are the principal agencies involved in setting guidelines about infection prevention. In recent years, attention to health care associated infections( HAIs) formerly referred to as nosocomial infections. The impact of infectious disease changes through time as microorganisms mutate, as human behavior patterns shift, or as therapeutic options change. HAND HYGIENE: The most frequent cause of infection outbreaks in health care institutions is transmission by the hands of healthcare workers. Hands should be washed or decontaminated frequently during patient care. When hands are visibly dirty or contaminated with biologic material from patient care, hands should be washed with soap and water.In intensive care units and other locations in which virulent or resistant organisms are likely to be present antimicrobial agents such as chlorhexidine gluconate,iodophors, chloroxylenol and triclosan may be used. Effective hand washing requires at least 15 seconds of vigorous scrubbing, with special attention to the area around nail beds and between fingers, where there is a high bacterial load. Hands should be thoroughly rinsed after washing. If hands are not visibly soiled , health care providers are strongly encouraged to use alcohol-based waterless antiseptic agents for routine hand decontamination. These solutions are superior to soap or antimicrobial handwashing agents in their speed of action and effectiveness against microorganisms. Because they are formulated with emollients,they are usually better tolerated than other agents, and because they can be used withouut sinks and towels. Hand washing or disinfection reduces the bacterial load and decreses the risk of transfer to other patients. improved COMPARISON OF ANTISEPTIC AND HAND SANITIZER: A) Reduction in the infection rates and microbial counts on health care providers. B) improvements in skin conditions of health care providers. C) reduction in infection rates. D) Other practices such as frequency and quality of hand hygiene reduces the risk of cross-contamination. METHODS TO EVALUATE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF HAND HYGIENE: There are 3 main methods in evaluating hand hygiene a) DIRECT OBSERVATION b) MEASURING PRODUCT USE c) CONDUCTING SURVEYS. DIRECT OBSERVATION: Direct observation of hand hygiene by health care providers is considered as the " golden standard" of measurement methoda. Observation helps to allow which hand hygiene products are used, the thoroughness of cleansing, the tools and techniques used for drying, the use of gloves,and whether the staff are performing hand hygiene whenever there is an opportunity to do so. This method helps to give a feedback when improvement is needed. MEASURING PRODUCT USE: Measuring the amount of soap, alcohol-based hand rub and paper towels that health care workers used is an indirect way of estimating staff adherence to hand hygiene guidelines. CONDUCTING SURVEYS: Surveys of health care workers, patients and family members conducted in person or in focus groups can yield information about perceptions, attitudes and behavior related to hand hygiene. It also helps to reveal what health care workers know about hand hygiene as well as why they are adhere to guidelines.