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Friends, healthcare associated infection has become a major concern. Healthcare associated infections have become a major issue for many agencies and healthcare professionals. Whenever we do something, it always has adverse effects. Adverse effects in healthcare are healthcare associated infections. There are many types of infectious patients in healthcare settings, and one infectious patient is at risk of infecting many other patients who are not infectious.
For example, if a patient has been diagnosed with sepsis and is admitted to the hospital, then that patient has an infectious organism. But another patient has also been admitted who has chest pain and there is no infection in his body but he has been admitted for angiography and angioplasty. During this time, if doctors and nursing staff touch the infectious patient and provide healthcare services, then there are chances of them getting the micro organism on their hands. If this doctor touches a patient who has been admitted for angiography, he may get an infection. In this way, a healthy patient who did not have infection gets indirect infection from another patient and the doctors and nursing staff who brought this organism to this patient are responsible for this.
There are many techniques and strategies to prevent healthcare associated infections, but the cheapest, best and least time consuming technique is hand hygiene. If the healthcare provider cleans his hands with 70% alcohol based hand cleaner liquid, the chain of infection is broken. So this is why hand hygiene is most important. Therefore, hand hygiene should be promoted and audits on hand hygiene should be conducted frequently.
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Many guidelines for hand hygiene have been given by the Center for Disease Control and the World Health Organization. Good guidelines were also given by the World Health Organization such as hand hygiene should be done at 5 moments.
Befor Touching patient
Before doing any aseptic procedure
Before body fluid exposure
After touching patient
After touching patient surrounding area
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With these 5 moments of hand hygiene, we can prevent health care associated infection and keep it under control. Healthcare associated infections can spread not only in healthcare facilities but also in the community, so patients, relatives, visitors and healthcare staff should be given frequent training in this. More and more audits should be done and on-the-job training should be given to every healthcare provider. Healthcare facilities should set aside annual funds and spend them on infection control.
