INFECTION CONTROL

Infection Control in Clinical Practice

Infection Control in Clinical Practice

Introduction

The principle of infection control is something that is becoming increasingly important in hospitals and healthcare settings. This is primarily because of hardship, and suffering it causes to the patient, who acquires an infection whilst in hospital, and because of the cost it brings to our already under funded hospitals from increased stays and healthcare workers falling ill.

The paper discusses the principal of infection control and, by demonstrating the effectiveness of techniques such as hand washing and universal precautions, determines its relevance.

Infection Control Practice

For some infection control is the latest buzzword in hospital wards, however, its significance is somewhat overlooked. Hospital acquired infections (HAI), which are a result of poor infection control account for around 10% in the UK. To date, there are no accurate figures for Ireland, but it is reckoned to be the same. According to Duffy et.al. (2002), a HAI is usually one that first appears three days after a patient is admitted into hospital. They are also called nosocomial infections. Germany differs somewhat to the occurrence of HAI's as they have had a holistic strategy in hospital hygiene since 1976, which has resulted in the lowest rates of infection amongst patients compared with the rest of Europe (e.g. Germany 3.5%, France 6.7%, and UK 10%). It is because of infection control that since the beginning of the 20th century life expectancy has increased by 30 years along with life quality (Woodhead et.al, 2002, pp.241). The main reasons for these results are improvements of the economic situation of the population, housing and domestic settings, nutritional status, education, motivation to perform personal hygiene, centralized water and sewage systems, availability of highly efficient vaccines and discovery of new drugs.

Importance of Identifying and Managing Risks and Hazards associated with Clinical Infection

As discussed earlier, since the beginning of the century man has had impressive results in increasing life expectancy but according to Wilson et.al (2007), "after the eradication of small pox led to the belief that the book of infectious diseases could be closed. A systematic reduction of the institutional infrastructure began, and awareness of infectious disease risks in the population declined". Unfortunately since the eradication of small pox, different pathogens have emerged, such as HIV, AIDS, MRSA, Hepatitis A and B. Also, diseases, which were once under control, have now re-emerged, such as TB. Human behaviour has also changed, most notably in sexual lifestyles. The once predominant existence of monogamy has ceased, and increasingly people are becoming more promiscuous leading to the spread of STD's/STI's such as syphilis. All this has presented our hospitals with a huge task of controlling these infections and preventing them from spreading to other patients and health care workers. Methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), which is the antibiotic resistant micro organism, is now an accepted part of both hospitals and nursing homes and has resulted from the misuse of antibiotics, poor hygiene standards such as ward design, lack of isolation, inadequate sterile ...