Healthcare-associated infections: causes, prevention, and management

Healthcare Associate Infections

Hospitals are often associated with providing care and treatment in the face of an illness. However, what is not often discussed is that many patients who are admitted to hospitals contract infections from the hospital itself. Infections which are acquired from a hospital are known in the medical community as nosocomial infections (Avic, 2012). I am interested in exploring how nosocomial infection occurs and how they can be prevented. I am specifically interested in assessing how nurses can contribute to reducing incidents of nosocomial infections and the role that they play in patient infection rates. By analyzing the most vulnerable patients, this paper attempts to identify when an infection is likely to occur, where they are most likely to be contracted, and the safeguards that must be put in place to prevent the nosocomial infections.

Avic, et al., review the frequency, types, and outcomes of hospital acquired infections in members of the elderly population. Their study is important because it identifies a population demographic in the hospital setting which is more prone to contracting nosocomial infections. Avic et al., review data from over 60,000 individuals who are the age of 65 and over 40,000 individual between 18 and 64 (Avic, 247). The conclusions of the study are very troubling, contrary to lay opinion infections are not simple ailments; indeed, in elderly populations who already have a compromised health, a hospital acquired infection can be fatal. Avic et. al found that across the board, infections of all types including, urinary tract infections, primary bacteria infections, and respiratory infections were all higher in the elderly group (Avic, 248) For more concerning than the infection rate is the fatality rate which accompanied the infections. Of the elderly patients who contracted a nosocomial infection, upwards of 20% died as a result of the complications induced by the infection. The complications were primarily cardiovascular in nature (Avic, 249-50).

In the same way that elderly individuals who are admitted into hospitals are more prone to contracting hospital acquired infections, so too are patients on the other end of the age spectrum. Namely, infants, and particularly those with severely underdeveloped immune systems such as neonatal infants, are also a particularly vulnerable group. Researchers Rahim and Barnett, unlike Avic et al., focus measures which have helped reduce infant mortality rates by reducing infant infection rates. Using a hospital in Malaysia as a case study the authors identify several factors which drastically improved infant morbidly rates.

A one on one education program which specifically targeted nurses for additional training, provided weekly examinations of assigned infants, and immediate feedback was critical to the successful reduction of infant infections (Rahim & Barnett, 582). The trainings centered on back to basics steps such as checklists of proper hygiene and review of feeding tubes insertion methods. Using observations of 30 nurses from the neonatal wing of a hospital, Rahim & Barnett were able to influence behavioral changes with respect to cleaning, feeding, and attending infants, in both nurses and cleaning staff (Rahim & Barnett, 583).