Quality control.

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Topic: Infection Control

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Infection Control

Infection control is crucial in healthcare settings as it protects the patients and healthcare providers from infectious diseases. It refers to preventing the spread of infections in healthcare environments. Infection control also improves the aspect of quality service delivery and workplace safety. It is widely recognized that healthcare-associated infection affects hundreds of millions of people globally and is a prevalent universal issue for patient safety (Pittet et al., 2008). Through controlling the diseases within the hospitals, infection control techniques ensure that the outside society is not vulnerable to diseases that emerge from within hospitals.

Failure to control infection has adverse impacts on the hospitals, patients, and the surrounding community. In particular, statistics show that infections in healthcare facilities worsen 5-10% of admissions in acute hospitals in developed nations (Pittet et al., 2008). In third-world countries, the risk of infections in healthcare complicates up to 25% of admissions in acute hospitals (Pittet et al., 2008). The World Health Organization (WHO) has recognized the challenge and has taken measures that promote infection control practices, including forming a World Alliance for Patient Safety.

A lack of infection control framework can be costly and can result in deaths of the staff and patients. Subsequently, scholars have suggested various methods to control the spread of diseases. One of the tactics is through early diagnosis of diseases that allows practitioners to respond on time (Vonberg et al., 2008). The second approach is offering education to the staff on the primary methods of disease prevention such as hand washing and protective clothing (Vonberg et al., 2008). Hospital organizations can also establish strict isolation precautions within the hospital facilities to prevent diseases from spreading. Environmental hygiene and cleaning of medical equipment also contribute to infection control. Lastly, hospital organizations can control infections by setting up protocols the staff should adhere to when there is an outbreak.

References

Pittet, D., Allegranzi, B., Storr, J., Nejad, S. B., Dziekan, G., Leotsakos, A., & Donaldson, L. (2008). Infection control as a major World Health Organization priority for developing countries. Journal of Hospital Infection, 68(4), 285–292. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhin.2007.12.013

Vonberg, R.-P., Kuijper, E. J., Wilcox, M. H., Barbut, F., Tüll, P., Gastmeier, P., van den Broek, P. J., Colville, A., Coignard, B., Daha, T., Debast, S., Duerden, B. I., van den Hof, S., van der Kooi, T., Maarleveld, H. J. H., Nagy, E., Notermans, D. W., O'Driscoll, J., Patel, B., … Wiuff, C. (2008). Infection control measures to limit the spread of clostridium difficile. Clinical Microbiology and Infection, 14, 2–20. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-0691.2008.01992.x