Topic 5 DQ 1 paragraph 3

Please write a Paragraph answering to this discussion below with your opinion. Please include citations and references in case of another source.

Evidence-based practice (EBP) in Infection Control is practiced to the letter at the Labor and Delivery (L&D) unit where I work. Preventing infection and cross-infection is important to protect both patients and health care professionals. It is very easy to transfer infection-causing organisms (e.g. viruses and bacteria) from one place to another and therefore from one person to another. It is important in day-to-day life, but even more important in the hospital setting where patients may have reduced immunity or wounds, making them vulnerable to infection. The last thing a patient wants when going to a hospital for treatment is a hospital-acquired infection. Nurses play a key role in helping to prevent illness before it happens by adhering to evidence-based infection control policies. This includes keeping the healthcare environment clean, wearing personal protective clothing, using barrier precautions and practicing correct handwashing. I would like to discuss how hand washing is practiced at my unit. Hand washing is one of the most important actions we take to prevent the spread of infections and therefore prevent loss of health, or even death. Hand washing also protects health workers from infection and save money by reducing the need for expensive treatments once infection has occurred. When practiced routinely, it also provides a good example to patients, relatives and the community at large. Our team has instituted a hand washing orientation for new hires and before they wash their hands, they are reminded that organisms can sit under their watches, rings and, nail polish. This can make any handwashing ineffective, so they are reminded to remove their watches, any rings with stones in (because of the dirt that can sit around the stone) and should not wear any nail polish. They are also reminded that bacteria and dirt can sit under the end of a long nail so it is important to have short nails when working in health care.

Lastly but not the least, the new hires are reminded that scratches and wounds on hands can harbor infection and can also become infected and so they should be covered. Once they remove all jewelry, with no watches, no nail polish, no false nails, no long nails, no cracked skin or open wounds (including cuts or cracked skin), they are then given the green light to wash their hands to reinforce the concept.

At the end of the training, the new hires are told to start the handwashing process before and after caring for a patient, after using the toilet, before and after food, and after dealing with any dirty or contaminated material. It should be a 20–40-second wash, cleaning the whole hand and wrist. This can be carried out with hospital approved liquid soap and water (solid soap can harbor organisms) or with antimicrobial gel or foam (hand sanitizer). They should dry the hands with a clean disposable paper towel and make sure that they are dry before they move on to their next task.

Although nurses are busy with many responsibilities, the time it takes to control infection is well worth the effort—the rate of nosocomial infections has subsided tremendously at the unit as result of this evidenced-based practice.

Reference:

CriticalCareNurse: Putting Evidence Into Nursing Practice. Accessed April 30, 2018

NCBI: The Evidence for Evidence-Based Practice Implementation.