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Running Head: HAND WASHING AS A SAFETY INITIATIVE TO PREVENT PREVELENCE OF UTI 1

Hand Washing as a Safety Initiative to Prevent Prevalence of UTIs

Jose Quezada

International College of Health Sciences

Instructor: Dr. Hill

June 2,2021

Hand Hygiene as a Safety Initiative to Prevent Prevalence of UTIs

Sometimes, patients contract secondary infections during the period that they are hospitalized. One of the secondary illnesses that patients may contract in a hospital setting is urinary tract infection (UTI). UTIs are infections caused by bacterial infestations that cause pain and discomfort during micturition (Mody et al., 2017). Studies indicate that UTI is the most rampant hospital-acquired infection, especially in patients under critical care who need supportive care. It is a significant concern because it lengthens the duration that patients stay in hospitals hence inflates their treatment costs (Meddings et al., 2019). Maintaining high standards of hand hygiene is one of the evidence-based practices that can help prevent UTIs in catheterized patients. This essay examines how hand hygiene can be adopted as an evidence-based safety initiative intended to avoid the prevalence of UTIs in catheterized patients. The write-up analyzes different elements surrounding the implementation of the quality improvement measure, carries out a SWOT analysis of the implemented strategy, and provides timelines for accomplishing the initiative.

Implementation of Hand Hygiene in a Clinical Setting

Hand hygiene is an evidence-based practice that is guaranteed to eliminate microbes responsible for the development of infections such as UTI. The process involved in implementing the approach includes identifying the individuals in charge of integrating all the activities required to successfully implement the strategy (Watson et al., 2019). The second step is installing the equipment and tools needed to implement the plan. It includes placing alcohol-based sanitizers and rubs in appropriate locations where they are required. Subsequently, it includes installing sinks, soaps, and towels at the recommended ratios of one sink for every ten beds set aside for patients. Further, the process consists of educating the medical personnel on the significance of maintaining hand hygiene, when they should carry out the task, and the correct procedure of cleaning the hands (Graveto et al., 2018). Further, it includes placing posters strategically in the clinical setting that remind the medical providers to maintain hand hygiene.

Principles of Quality Improvement

Implementing a program that promotes hand hygiene in the healthcare setting as a measure geared towards enhancing the quality of care that patients receive aligns with quality improvement principles. It focuses on the well-being of ailing individuals. The purpose of implementing the strategy is to reduce the prevalence of UTIs, which are precipitated by handling catheterized patients with unclean hands and transferring bacteria into their body systems (Musu et al., 2017). Subsequently, it requires cooperative engagement between all the healthcare providers tasked with handling the patients, such as physicians and nurses. According to the principles of quality improvement, the individuals should work together collaboratively to ensure that recommended measures are implemented effectively.

Healthcare Policy

Healthcare policies indicate that healthcare providers should maintain hand hygiene regularly to lower the risk of spreading infections to patients and other workers in the organization. The procedure should be carried out before and immediately after any contact made with the ailing individuals (Graveto et al., 2018). According to the guidelines inherent in the policy, medical practitioners should use soap and water when their hands have fluids or solid matter from patients. On the other hand, sanitizers and alcohol rubs can be used effectively in the absence of visible dirt. Hand hygiene is also necessary before performing any clinical procedure or touching the areas that surround the patient.

Legal and Ethical Considerations

Healthcare principles are bound by ethical principles to ensure that all their actions are geared towards promoting the welfare of the patients. Failing to clean hands properly during the moments when the professionals are required to do so is a dangerous practice because it predisposes patients to conditions such as UTI (Mody et al., 2017). The omission has ethical implications because ethical guidelines associated with the profession require healthcare providers to practice non-maleficence, which elucidates the practice of avoiding any actions that may harm patients and beneficence, indicating that they should perform deeds that promote the well-being of the patients (Musu e al., 2017). Therefore, they should maintain hand hygiene because failure to do so may cause patients to take legal actions against neglecting an essential procedure while handling them.

Cost-Effectiveness of the Initiative

Implementing a program for maintaining hand hygiene is an effective measure because it is easy to install and execute. It involves relatively low startup costs, including procuring and installing the needed equipment such as sinks and cleaning supplies and recruiting staff members who will be tasked with coordinating the program (Wason et al., 2019). On the other the practice will effectively improve the quality of care that patients receive, thereby lowering the cost incurred while seeking treatment significantly. It prevents the acquisition of hospital-acquired infections such as UTIs. As a result, patients recuperate faster; hence their medical expenses are reduced considerably.

Monitoring of the Initiative

Two strategies can be used to monitor adherence to hand hygiene protocols in a clinical setting. The first strategy is the direct methods. The process entails observing the healthcare providers while performing their tasks to determine whether they are maintaining hand hygiene during the clinically required moments and at any opportunity that arises. The second formula is the indirect formula (Graveto et al., 2018). The process includes monitoring the amount of hand cleaning products that have been consumed to gauge the frequency with which the healthcare providers are cleaning their hands. The process can be done manually or using technological tools.

SWOT Analysis of Using Hand Hygiene as a Measure of Preventing UTIs

The strengths of hand hygiene as a measure used in preventing the prevalence of UTIs in healthcare organizations include the fact that the process effectively eliminates any pathogens that the healthcare providers might have come into contact with while handling patients or their surroundings. Hand hygiene helps eliminate the microbes; hence, they do not enter the body systems of patients to cause infections (Meddings et al., 2019). The procedure is also easy to implement and is cost-effective. On the other hand, the strategy's weakness as a safety measure for preventing UTIs is that there is a possibility of the healthcare providers failing to comply with the guidelines for cleaning hands. Subsequently, the medical professionals may use the wrong procedure while washing hands, hence reducing the effectiveness of the safety model (Mody et al., 2017). For example, the professionals may use inadequate amounts of cleaning agents, thus failing to eliminate the pathogens effectively.

The threats that can affect the implementation of hand hygiene include understaffing in medical facilities. Healthcare providers who have heavy workloads become fatigued and increasing the chances of their missing out on significant procedures such as hand hygiene (Muse et al., 2017). Subsequently, when inadequately trained, employees are less likely to comply with hand hygiene measures than those who are effectively trained. On the other hand, the opportunities that healthcare providers should take advantage of include the training opportunities offered periodically by professional organizations to amplify the competency of their members in performing clinical roles (Graveto et al., 2019). Subsequently, healthcare organizations can take advantage of government-issued grants to install hand hygiene equipment in the facilities and enroll healthcare professionals, especially nurses.

Timelines for implementing the project

The time plan that can effectively instigate the structures needed to implement the processes required in installing the hand hygiene program is six weeks. The step is procuring the needed items such as sinks, soaps, hand sanitizers, and alcohol rubs a process that will take one week. The second step is installing the fixtures needed during the process, including sinks and soap dispensers, an activity that will take two weeks. Afterward, posters that will act as reminders to health care providers to maintain hand hygiene will be designed and put up in different areas of the healthcare organization. Later, the nurses will be trained for two weeks on the correct hand hygiene procedures and the varying instances when they should clean their hands. The project can be implemented without any hitches.

How the Weaknesses and Threats will be addressed

There is a need to overcome the weaknesses associated with using hand hygiene to prevent UTIs. The strategy that can be used in overcoming the shortcomings of the process is providing adequate training for the healthcare providers to equip them with the skills they need to maintain high hand hygiene standards (Meddings et al., 2019). The training sessions can be in the form of workshops, seminars, or online lessons. Subsequently, healthcare organizations can employ observers whose role would be to ensure that high hand hygiene standards are maintained in an organization.

Conclusion

UTIs are infections that are commonly acquired by hospitalized patients under catheterization. The conditions are major healthcare concerns because they increase the periods that individuals are hospitalized. Subsequently, they increase the cost of seeking treatment and reduce the contentment of patients with the quality of care they receive. Hand hygiene is an evidence-based measure that can be used to prevent cases of UTIs effectively. The safety initiative aligns with the principles of quality improvement, healthcare policies and can be monitored effectively. A SWOT analysis of using hand hygiene as a quality improvement tool in reducing the prevalence of UTI unveils the strengths and weaknesses of the initiative and its threats and opportunities. Mitigating the weaknesses and threats will ensure that health organizations benefit maximally from the numerous merits of hand hygiene in healthcare organizations.

References

Graveto, J. M. G. D. N., Rebola, R. I. F., Fernandes, E. A., & Costa, P. J. D. S. (2018). Hand hygiene: nurses’ adherence after training. Revista brasileira de enfermagem, 71(3), 1189-1193.

Meddings, J., Manojlovich, M., Fowler, K. E., Ameling, J. M., Greene, L., Collier, S., ... & Saint, S. (2019). A tiered approach for preventing catheter-associated urinary tract infection. Annals of internal medicine, 171(7_Supplement), S30-S37.

Mody, L., Greene, M. T., Meddings, J., Krein, S. L., McNamara, S. E., Trautner, B. W., ... & Saint, S. (2017). A national implementation project to prevent catheter-associated urinary tract infection in nursing home residents. JAMA internal medicine, 177(8), 1154-1162

Musu, M., Lai, A., Mereu, N. M., Galletta, M., Campagna, M., Tidore, M., ... & Coppola, R. C. (2017). Assessing hand hygiene compliance among healthcare workers in six Intensive Care Units. Journal of preventive medicine and hygiene, 58(3), E231.

Watson, J., D'Mello-Guyett, L., Flynn, E., Falconer, J., Esteves-Mills, J., Prual, A., ... & Cumming, O. (2019). Interventions to improve water supply and quality, sanitation and handwashing facilities in healthcare facilities, and their effect on healthcare-associated infections in low-income and middle-income countries: a systematic review and supplementary scoping review. BMJ global health, 4(4), e001632.

Appendix

Figure 1: SWOT Analysis of Using Hand Hygiene as a Measure of Preventing UTIs

Strengths	Weakness
. It can adequately eliminate all disease-causing pathogens. . It is easy to implement . It is cost-effective	. There is a possibility of a lack of adequate compliance with the safety protocol. . Healthcare providers may use the wrong procedures while cleaning their hands.
Threats	Opportunities
. Understaffing in medical facilities increase the chances of making errors . The employees may have inadequate skills in hand washing techniques.	. Presence of training opportunities in professional organizations that employees can explore to improve their proficiency in performing medical procedures like hand washing adequately. . Availability of grants that can finance the project.

Figure 2: Timelines for implementing the project

Processes	The duration needed for implementation
Purchasing items such as sinks, soap, and sanitizers	One week
Installing the required fixtures	Two weeks
Designing and putting up posters	One week
Training of nurses and other healthcare providers	Two weeks
Totals	Six weeks