Regulatory Standards in Beverley Rehabilitation and Health Care Center

The role of regulation in nursing practice cannot be overstated. Towards this end, there are various regulatory agencies that provide guidelines as well as standards for various practice settings. For my practice setting, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) remains a key regulatory agency. HHS concerns itself with not only the protection of the health of the American public, but also the provision of services deemed essential. More specifically, HHS highlights its mission as “to enhance and protect the health and well-being of all Americans” (HHS, 2018). According to HHS, under Congress’ authority, agencies create laws from time to time with an aim of assisting the government to execute its public policy. In essence, my area of focus is infection control and prevention.
It is important to note that as various studies have indicated in the past, one of the most significant threats to the safety as well as wellbeing of patients are healthcare-associated infections (HAI). As per the recommendations of the Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee, which advises the HHS secretary on the most viable strategies to implement in an attempt to control and prevent HAIs, “adherence to infection prevention and control practices is essential to providing safe and high quality patient care across all settings where healthcare is delivered” (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – CDC, 2017). Towards this end, various infection control as well as prevention guidelines have been put in place for all healthcare facilities to adhere to – “regardless of the type of healthcare provided” (CDC, 2017).
In various core practice categories, the guidelines highlight not only the relevance of support from the leadership of facilities, but also the need to adequately train staff on the various aspects of infection prevention. Education and training on infection control, as per the guidelines, should be extended to both patients and family members, as well visitors. Training in this case could include basic information on the spread of infections and the various measures which could be adopted in an attempt to prevent the said spread. The relevance of implementing appropriate performance and feedback mechanisms is also highlighted. Towards this end, adherence to infection prevention strategies should be closely monitored and if need be, corrective measures undertaken. A variety of standard precautions have been highlighted. These include, but they are not limited to, proper cleaning and disinfection of the environment, medication as well as injection safety, and hand hygiene.
My project involves educating nurses working in a short-term long- term rehabilitation center/nursing home on how to insert indwelling Foley catheter and catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI). This would be more of a ‘refresher course’ for the more experienced nurses and a valuable knowledge acquisition opportunity for those with less experience. The relevance of this exercise cannot be overstated especially given that as Nicolle (2014) points out, “urinary tract infection attributed to the use of an indwelling urinary catheter is one of the most common infections acquired by patients in health care facilities” (23). Under the ‘temporary invasive medical devices for clinical management’ guideline, the need for the healthcare provider to see to it that all insertion and maintenance directions are adhered to is restated. Towards this end, reference could be made to ‘Guideline for Prevention of catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infections 2009.’



References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – CDC (2017). Core Infection Prevention and Control Practices for Safe Healthcare Delivery in All Settings – Recommendations of the Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/hicpac/pdf/core-practices.pdf
Health and Human Services – HHS (2018). About HHS. Retrieved from https://www.hhs.gov/about/index.html
Nicolle, L.E. (2014). Catheter Associated Urinary Tract Infections. Antimicrob Resist Infect Control, 3(23), 43-51.