Health Care Associated Infections Essay

Did you know that healthc atomic number 18 associated infections atomic number 18 in the top ten leading causes of death in the United States? According to Agency for health c ar Research and Quality (2010), healthc atomic number 18-associated infections, similarly known as HAIs are the most commonality complication of hospital care, resulting in 1.7 million infections and ninety-nine green deaths apiece year. It is unfortunate that so galore(postnominal) people suffer each year from infections that could be easily precludeed.Slide2 straightaway my goal is to share some information with you about health care associated infections and hopefully together we lot either make a difference by reducing these alarming statistics. To start off Im going to explain what Healthcare Associated Infections are and then I will go over the polar types. Next I am going to go over a couple of the more common pathogens in healthcare associated infections. Following that I would like to talk about the preventive measure that every last(predicate) health care workers should be following to prevent future Healthcare associated infections.(Slide 3)According to Wilkinson and Treas (2011), A Healthcare Associated Infection is an infection related to healthcare given in any setting such as a hospital, during home-care, long-term care, and ambulatory settings. Infections may be spread from integrity patient to some other righteous now because the healthcare provider discovered to wash out their hold or wear the proper personal protective equipment. Infections are also commonly spread by devises used during a medical exam procedure and anything else the patient may come in contact with that has not been properly cleaned such as a c only gong or side rail. For instance say you support a patient with MRSA and one of their family members leave the fashion failing to wash their manpower, goes to the front desk to ask for a glass of water for the patient in the besot ted time she placed her contaminated hands on the desk.Following that a nurse stops by the front desk also placing her hands on the desk then goes in to see a patient and fails to wash her hands prior to patient contact. Now we have just spread the infection and sadly another patient has acquired a healthcare associated infections. Patients whom acquire healthcare associated infections typic everyy have longer duration of retrieval time and medical cost are increased drastically. on that point are many different types of Healthcare Associated Infections, there is operative Site Infection (SSI), primaeval Line Associated kindred waterway Infections (CLABSI), catheter associated infection (UTI), and ventilator associated phenomena (VAP).(Slide 4)Surgical Site InfectionA surgical site infection, also known as SSI, is an infection that occurs afterwards surgery in whatever part of a persons embody that the surgery took place. There are three main types of SSIs. There is superficia l incision SSI, which transpires between the integument and subcutaneous tissue. Next is sibylline incision SSI, taking place at deep tissues such as muscles. The third type is called electric organ/space SSI, which occurs inside the body at an organ or the open space inside the body around the surgical site. All Surgical infections typically occur within thirty days of the surgical procedure expect in cases of im purposets, which then surgical site infections can take place with in one year. According to the Center of Disease Control (2012), infections develop in about 1 to 3 out of every 100 patients who have surgery. These infections are not only lengthening hospital stays, and adding unnecessary medical expenses, and are also responsible for unnecessary deaths and long-term disabilities.(Slide 5)CLABSIAnother type of Healthcare associated infection occurs at a central line also known as a catheter line, which is a tube used to draw blood, give medication or fluids through a l arge venous blood vessel such as the jugular vein or subcalavian vein. A central line associated blood stream infection is caused when bacteria, or any type of germ enters the blood from the central line, which then causes an infection in the blood stream. Slide 6- According to The American Surgeon (2011) Nosocomial blood stream infections are one of the leading causes of death in United States hospitals. As stated in the U.S. Department of Health and benevolent Services (2012), In 2011 there were thirty-seven central line associated blood stream infections reported at Halifax Health Medical Center.(Slide 7)CA-UTIA different type of Healthcare related infection is a catheter associated urinary track infection. This type of infection occurs when the patient has a urinary catheter in place and bacteria or fungus travel up the tubing. The infection can take place any where in the urinary constitution from the urethra to the kidneys. The longer the patient has the catheter in place t he more they are at risk for getting a UTI. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reported that one in ever two thousand patients who were cared for at Bert Fish Memorial in New Smyrna Beach acquired a catheter associated infection.(Slide 8)VAPThen there are the ventilator-associated phenomenas, which is an infection that occurs in the lungs due to contaminated ventilation equipment. Patients who are on ventilators are already washed-out due to another form of illness and their immune systems are typically compromised making it difficult for their bodies to fill out with trying to fight yet another issue. According to Wilkinson and Treas (2011), ventilator associated infection are associated with high mortality rate. Last year alone there were approximately thirty-six thousand reported cases of ventilator-associated infections.(Slide 9)PathogensTwo of the more common types of pathogens in nosocomial infections are Coagulase-negative staphylococci also known as CoNS and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus also known at MRSA. CoNS typically causes catheter related ifections since catheters are not easly outback(a) and cleaned it often makes it complicated to treat. CoNS are also known to be resistant to most forms of antibiotics. According to the European Journal Of Clinical Microbiology & infective Diseases (2011), CoNS infection prolongs treatment with antibiotics and hospital stay by approximately twelve days or up to two and a half weeks. MRSA is a staph germ that is difficult to cure. If MRSA enters the blood stream it can spread any where through out the body, including bones, and organs. According to Clinical Infectious Disease (2012) MRSA infections kill xix thousand hospitalized American patients annually. Out of all the MRSA cases, 86% of them are healthcare aquired.(Slide 10)Preventive measuresAll of these infections could be prevented if we take initiative to follow the proper protocol. One the simplest and most important prev entive measures is washing your hands before and after entering a clients room. Sadly many health providers fail to do this. These infections could be prevented as long as the healthcare team uses proper aseptic techniques. In 2010 Floridas Department of Health started up a program called the HAI prevention program. One of their main goals is to prevent and decrease the healthcare related infection rates in Floridas hospitals and long-term care facilities.With in a five-year period the US Department of Health and Human Services plans on reducing Blood stream infections in Florida by 50-70%. Thats a good start, but I believe we should all strive to eliminate all healthcare related infections. A few preventive measures are, if a medical supply accidentally becomes contaminated through it out and start fresh, as soon as our patients are well enough to have catheters removed notify the doctor so that they can be removed promptly, and always wash your hands before and after patient conta ct and remind others to wash their hands as well.(Slide 11)ConclusionIn closing I am sad to say it, but many healthcare providers are in violation of the first rule of health care, Do No Harm. Our patients are coming to us to be relieved of their illnesses not to acquire new ones. So if we could all just follow the simple preventive measures such as washing our hands before and after assisting our patients we all can make a difference. Just think that fifteen seconds it took you to wash your hands may have just saved a life.ReferencesAgency for Healthcare Research and Quality. (2010) Ending healthcare-associated infections. Retrieved from http//www.ahrq.gov/qual/haicusp.htmBoucher, H. & Corey, R. (2008). Epidemiology of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Oxford Journals. 46(5), 344-349. Retrieved from http//cid.oxfordjournals.orgFlorida state plan to address healthcare-associated infections. (n.d.). Retrieved from http//www.cdc.gov/HAI/pdfs/stateplans/fl.pdfKordek, A. (201 1). Concentrations of procalcitonin and C-reactive protein, white blood cell count, and the immature-to-total neutrophil ratio in the blood of neonates with nosocomial infections negative bacilli vs coagulase-negative staphylococci. European Journal Of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases Official Publication Of The European Society Of Clinical Microbiology, 30(3), 455-457. Retrieved from http//web.ebscohost.com/ehost/Smith, J., Egger, M., Franklin, G., Harbrecht, B., & Richardson, J. (2011). Central line- associated blood stream infection in the critically ill trauma patient. The American Surgeon, 77(8), 1038-1042. Retrieved from http//web.ebscohost.com/ehostWilkinson. & Treas. (2011). Fundamentals Of Nursing. Philadelphia, PA F.A. Davis.