Monday 30 January 2017

Effective Tips For Infection Control

By George Nelson


CDC or Center for Disease Control has indicated that five percent of all patients admitted to hospitals contract diseases that are related to health care. However, research indicates that the infections can be controlled. In their opinion, it is possible to control these infections using very simple tactics that do not even have a budget implication. The infection control methods proposed include team work and basic hand hygiene, among other strategies.

Experts regard hand washing among the most cost effective, simple and obvious ways of preventing infections. The way to make it effective is by making it part of your organizational culture. To make it effective, for instance, surgical teams must thoroughly wash their hands and forearms before and after an operation. The method used in washing is clean in clean out and must be followed by use of gloves.

Take care of the environment. According to experts, the most common source of infections is a dirty environment. This helps to get rid of micro-bacteria that live in such places. It ensures that when patients or the health care providers touch these areas, they do not transmit the infections. Sanitary hygiene is given a lot of focus. House keeping requires significant professional attention. The best approach is to develop a comprehensive plan for the entire facility or organization.

Make screening of patients and cohorting part of your procedures. This ensures that patients suffering from the same disease are put in one ward or room. Your will help avoid cross-infection and make it easier to take similar precautionary measures. Care givers must also pay attention to the mode of spread whenever they are dealing with patients. These caregivers have the potential of spreading diseases and infections from one patient to another.

Vaccination is one of the widest used methods of preventing infections. Staff in health facilities should be vaccinated against infections and diseases that can be spread easily. There is a protocol on the diseases in question. This protects them from disease spread since they are in frequent and unavoidable contact with patients. They must also seek treatment any time they get sick. Weakening their immune system exposes them to disease spread.

Surveillance should be a priority for all stakeholders in a health facility. The idea is to watch out for danger signs on people and the environment. Gather data and share it with all persons involved. Identify points of vulnerability and take precautionary measures. Every stakeholder must take an active part in guaranteeing the health of the facility.

The efforts to protect a health facility from infections should be coordinated. It requires proactive approach to control. All efforts will be futile if one arm or section of workers is not involved. It is like a puncture that will eventually cause the entire vehicle to stall. In case one group of workers is uncertain or doubtful of their role in keeping the facility safe, they must be reassured.

Preventing and controlling infections are roles played by everyone within a health facility. This calls for accountability from all departments and individual personnel within the facility. The stakeholders must understand that prevention measures are meant to keep everyone safe and healthy.




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