Critique of Quality Issues/ Nosocomial Infection

I​‌‍‍‍‌‍‍‌‍‌‌‍‍‍‌‍‌‌‌‍​n Week 1, you identified and described a quality, safety, or performance improvement issue while in Week 2, you examined the research available on the selected improvement issue. In Week 3, you examined an issue using a process tool while in Week 4, you created a proposal for improvement. PowerPoint presentation that includes the following: From Week 1, the identification and description of a quality, safety, or performance improvement issue From Week 2, the research on your selected improvement issue From Week 3, the examination of your selected issue using a process tool From Week 4, your proposal for improvement Use an appropriate amount of text on the slides and write explanations and comments in the speaker’s notes area. Include citations in APA format in the speaker’s notes. Introduction to the research Nosocomial infections or Healthcare Acquired Infections (HAIs) are infectious diseases that are attained by a patient while at the facility. An estimated 1.7 million people in the US acquire nosocomial infections annually with 5.8% succumbing (Haque et al., 2018). For an infection to be considered as nosocomial, it should not be present during admission but should develop for at least two days after admission. The infections are also considered nosocomial if they occur within 30 days after being discharged from hospital care. The research on the nosocomial infections issue seeks to outline safety measures and performance improvement initiatives that must be adopted at healthcare facilities to reduce their prevalence. Therefore, factors known to positively or negatively affect the improvement issue would be outlined to develop the best course of action. Available research According to Arefian et al., (2019), nosocomial infections are a major healthcare concern in the US. The infections pose negative impacts such as increased mortality rates and healthcare costs. HAIs preventive programs have been developed in hospital settings as a strategic approach to preventing infections to reduce the elongated hospital stay (Arefian et al., 2019). The programs as a performance improvement strategy seek to address hygiene problems that increase the infection rate while in the hospital context to achieve patient safety. Also, research by Haque et al., (2018) outlines surgical complications and adverse drug events as the major causes of nosocomial infections. The study reveals that initiatives such as washing hands using alcohol-based liquids help prevent HAIs to improve performance and promote patient safety. The WHO has supported such initiatives by providing guidelines on hand-washing practices globally. Performance improvement projects have been spearheaded to reduce nosocomial infections in the ICUs (Thibeau, Chapman & Reed, 2015). Educational programs for healthcare workers have been initiated to successfully implement the handwashing practices as a strategic approach to counter the infection’s spread. Staff members should therefore be constantly involved in measures to reduce the spread of nosocomial infections to reduce patients’ stay in hospitals. The research shows how the “spy” approach should be deployed to outline areas of weakness in adhering to staff compliance on HAIs prevention. Research by Kritsotakis et al., (2017) assesses the overall burden posed by nosocomial infections to address the high costs of its control programs. The research outlines the reasons for the elongated stay in the hospital and outline strategies to how it would improve performance. What is known to positively impact the improvement issue? The use of infection control policies and procedures is known to positively impact the issue. The policies seek to prevent the spread of pathogens from one person to another such as ensuring the workplace is always kept clean. Healthcare providers should therefore investigate all outbreaks to ensure it is contained before wreaking havoc at the facility (Kritsotakis et al., 2017). Staff should always adhere to set contact precautions to prevent being agents to spread infections during a patient’s stay in hospital. Also, adherence to standard sterile measures whenever caring for wounds and executing surgery serves to reduce the prevalence of nosocomial infections. Equipment such as urinary catheters should be sterilized always to ensure infections are not spread from dirty surfaces to patients. Such measures could ensure clinicians foster the implementation of hygiene measures by all patients and staff. Proper use of antibiotics helps treat and prevent infections thus posing a positive effect on the issue. The doctors should ascertain that patients are administered with the right antibiotics to prevent accelerating infections (Thibeau, Chapman & Reed, 2015). Patients should also confirm with the clinicians that all equipment is sterilized and washed their hands before attending to them. Such measures would help raise awareness on the need for proper hygiene in healthcare sectors to successfully improve preventive measures. The patient should also alert nurses whenever their dressings are unclean to have them replaced to strategically prevent HAIs. The measures should be adhered to strictly to create a positive impact on the improvement issue. Costs saved from adhering to the improvement issue can be used for other purposes such as improving delivered services. Summary of the conclusions drawn from this research Nosocomial infections are a real concern to the US healthcare system due to the high infection rate and associated deaths annually. HAIs result from poor hygiene at health facilities as clinicians fail to wash their hands regularly and sanitize their surfaces. Information provided by available research outlines how prevention programs have been spearheaded to control the spread of such infections as a strategic approach to safeguarding patients’ safety. The programs seek to reduce the prevalence of the infections to address its high-cost concerns to successfully improve the issue. Proper use of antibiotics has been highlighted as one of the measures that positively impact the improvement issue. Clinicians should be wary of the type of antibiotic administered to a patient to prevent resulting nosocomial infections. Annotated bibliography Arefian, H., Hagel, S., Fischer, D., Scherag, A., Brunkhorst, F. M., Maschmann, J., & Hartmann, M. (2019). Estimating extra length of stay due to healthcare-associated infections before and after implementation of a hospital-wide infection control program. PloS one, 14(5), e0217159. The study outline HAIs are one of the major causes for the rise of mortality rates and healthcare-related costs. The authors, therefore, investigate the impact of hospital programs aimed at preventing nosocomial infections to reduce hospital stay. The criteria used aligns to guidelines provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the US. The research findings have a high confidence level of 95% to support their validity. Haque, M., Sartelli, M., McKimm, J., & Bakar, M. A. (2018). Healthcare-associated infections–an overview. Infection and drug resistance, 11, 2321. The authors conduct an overview of nosocomial infections by relating them as occurring with the healthcare facility. The research shows how surgical complications and wrong administration of antibiotics as the leading causes for the infections. HAIs control procedures like hand washing are vital in saving lives and reducing infection rates. The implementation of educational interventions in healthcare facilities is vital in helping counter the rising infection rates in the US. Kritsotakis, E. I., Kontopidou, F., Astrinaki, E., Roumbelaki, M., Ioannidou, E., & Gikas, A. (2017). Prevalence, incidence burden, and clinical impact of healthcare-associated infections and antimicrobial resistance: a national prevalent cohort study in acute care hospitals in Greece. Infection and Drug Resistance, 10, 317. The research by Kritsotakis and co seeks to analyze the challenges posed by the high-cost burden of HAIs. The authors explore the infection’s point prevalence based on the major sites of infections to depict the best strategies for prevention. The study is effective since it provides facts and statistics regarding the spread of such infections in hospital contexts to raise awareness. Consequently, prevention measures would be a recommendation for implementation by clinicians. Thibeau, S., Chapman, J., & Reed, D. (2015). A performance improvement project for reducing nosocomial infections in the neonatal intensive care unit. American Journal of Infection Control, 33(5), e144. The authors attribute improved hand hygiene in ICUs to a reduction in nosocomial infections. The researchers provide statistical information on the present infection rate based on how they can be reduced. Facts provided by the study raise its credibility as a trusted source that provides key information on the current state of nosocomial infections in our hospitals. The findings concur with recommendations by the CDC on the current state of HAIs based on the best approach to reduce its prevalence. ? References Arefian, H., Hagel, S., Fischer, D., Scherag, A., Brunkhorst, F. M., Maschmann, J., & Hartmann, M. (2019). Estimating extra length of stay due to healthcare-associated infections before and after implementation of a hospital-wide infection control program. PloS one, 14(5), e0217159. Haque, M., Sartelli, M., McKimm, J., & Bakar, M. A. (2018). Healthcare-associated infections–an overview. Infection and drug resistance, 11, 2321. Kritsotakis, E. I., Kontopidou, F., Astrinaki, E., Roumbelaki, M., Ioannidou, E., & Gikas, A. (2017). Prevalence, incidence burden, and clinical impact of healthcare-associated infections and antimicrobial resistance: a national prevalent cohort study in acute care hospitals in Greece. Infection and Drug Resistance, 10, 317. Thibeau, S., Chapman, J., & Reed, D. (2015). A performance improvement project for reducing nosocomial infections in the neonatal intensive care unit. Am Healthcare acquired infections (HAIs) or nosocomial infections refer to any infection that emerges during care contact, after admission, or after dischar​‌‍‍‍‌‍‍‌‍‌‌‍‍‍‌‍‌‌‌‍​ge. For an infection to be categorized as an HAI, the infection must appear 48 hours after admission or 30 days after discharge from healthcare facility (Haque et al., 2018). These types of infections represent a significant threat to the health of patients in the United States. It is estimated that 1.7 million people acquire such infections every year, with one in 17 people succumbing to HAIs (Haque et al., 2018). According to Forrester et al. (2021), the financial burden of HAIs was around 7.2-14.9 billion dollars in 2016 alone. The prevention of these infections depends on quality of care, baseline infection rates

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