Introduction
The translation of research evidence to practice is a complicated process that requires leaders to stay committed to the goal and battle the fear of responsibility. In clinical issues that burden the healthcare system financially, for instance, healthcare-associated infections (HAI), the essential assets also include sound financial analysis skills to offer feasible solutions. In this application assignment, I use the identified clinical issue to reflect on the opportunities for knowledge development, policy change promotion, and improving nursing practice.
Increasing Knowledge/Awareness of Concerns in New Practice Approaches
Financial and Economic Concerns
Concerns linked with the healthcare system’s economic preparedness for innovation in nursing and doubts regarding new workplace practices’ financial feasibility are prominent in the issue explored for this project. My knowledge and awareness improvement plan would include analyzing hand hygiene compliance checking devices in terms of prices, gathering data on alternatives to expensive high-tech wristbands, and using interprofessional communication to assess hospital managers’ attitudes towards hand hygiene monitoring technology and screens to expose the staff to feedback. The current research evidence identified in the previous application assignment suggests the promise of automated sensor-based platforms and electronic hand hygiene event reminders in reducing nosocomial infection incidence (Banks & Phillips, 2021). Personal electronic wristbands are not ubiquitous in clinical practice, so purchasing them can be an extra financial burden on healthcare facilities. To understand a plethora of financial factors hampering the implementation of high-tech HAI prevention methods, I am planning to explore products from Vitalacy, Inc., CenTrak, Hyginex, and other vendors in terms of affordability and share my takeaways with those in the practicum setting to spark a discussion. All components of the plan would require pronounced leadership and analysis skills.
Other Concerns
As an emerging nurse leader, I am also planning to explore non-financial concerns associated with innovation in HAI prevention, including promising solutions’ technical soundness and healthcare professionals’ resistance to change. As per observational research, hospitals’ custom-designed automated hand hygiene event monitoring systems involve substantial system inaccuracy risks, ranging from incorrect positive notifications to inappropriately timed personal alerts (Levin et al., 2019). Nurses’ attitudes to current technology peculiar to handwashing reminders present another aspect of interest (Ceylan et al., 2020). In real-life cases, intensive care nurses’ initial enthusiasm for hand hygiene monitoring systems can transform into visible resistance because of innovative tools’ inconvenience and imperfect accuracy in assessing handwashing opportunities (Levin et al., 2019). Practical work for analyzing these challenges in implementing performance feedback initiatives, team-based goal-setting peculiar to hand hygiene, or high-tech monitoring solutions will require me to apply effective communication and conflict resolution skills when researching staff members’ perspectives on the need for change. Therefore, this part of the plan would center on extensive communication to evaluate the readiness for change from nursing staff members’ perspectives.
Strengthening Care Delivery and Nursing Practice Via Evidence Translation
Evidence transfer would enable me to impact care delivery and nursing practice by reducing the impact of the human factor, such as forgetfulness, new job stress, lacking personal accountability, or employees’ varying multitasking skills, on compliance with hand hygiene guidelines. Future project-related efforts will involve further evidence assessment and selecting the best combination of anti-HAI methods that will be implementable and cost-effective for the particular organization. Evidence translation efforts using the John Hopkins Nursing Evidence-Based Practice (JHNEBP) model will require securing substantial human and material support for the change, which is impossible without teamwork and trust-building skills (Dang & Dearholt, 2017). As a result, these actions are anticipated to effectively adapt hand hygiene monitoring systems, screens with feedback regarding handwashing, or hand hygiene goal-setting in teams to specific healthcare contexts. The implementation stage will be preceded by careful observation and technology testing to maximize the plan’s benefits for care delivery, including reductions in missed hand hygiene events and increased handwashing duration. Finally, subsequent evidence translation efforts will also support the nursing practice by offering clear and effective hand hygiene reminders to enable nurses to fully concentrate on patient care.
Advocating for Novel EBP Approaches through the Policy Arena
To advocate for new EBP approaches through the policy arena, I would gather the facility management’s support, ensure the project’s results in HAI prevention, and write a health policy brief to be presented at the local level or in national critical care providers’ associations. As O’Connor et al. (2021) indicate, interviews with policy-makers suggest these professionals’ substantial interest in the facilitators of hand hygiene compliance in intensive care settings, for instance, reminders, the sense of being watched, and personal accountability. In the case of the planned project’s effectiveness in reducing HAI rates and the new hand hygiene monitoring intervention’s ease of implementation, it will be possible to collaborate with the managerial staff involved in overseeing the project to produce a policy brief explaining the innovative intervention. Such documents include discussions of policy actions that support positive change, for instance, providing ICUs with funding to purchase handwashing monitoring systems, and can spark the interest of local policy-makers or promote further research to solidify change-related claims. Sharing important takeaways with the policy-making or professional communities requires decisiveness, excellent speaking skills, and commitment to change.
Conclusion
To sum up, HAI prevention by promoting hand hygiene compliance remains an open field for ambitious professionals’ work, including opportunities for polishing one’s leadership skills. Becoming a full-fledged leader in evidence transfer involves studying the issue with attention to feasibility, staff mindset pertaining to change, and technology readiness. Thorough analysis maximizes the ability to translate local initiatives into viable proposals to be shared with influential decision-makers.
References
Banks, M., & Phillips, A. B. (2021). Evaluating the effect of automated hand hygiene technology on compliance and C. difficile rates in a long-term acute care hospital.American Journal of Infection Control, 49(6), 727-732.
Ceylan, B., Gunes, U., Baran, L., Ozturk, H., & Sahbudak, G. (2020). Examining the hand hygiene beliefs and practices of nursing students and the effectiveness of their handwashing behavior.Journal of Clinical Nursing, 29(21-22), 4057-4065.
Dang, D., & Dearholt, S. (2017). Johns Hopkins nursing evidence-based practice: Model and guidelines (3rd ed.). Sigma Theta Tau International.
Levin, P. D., Razon, R., Schwartz, C., Avidan, A., Sprung, C. L., Moses, A. E., & Benenson, S. (2019). Obstacles to the successful introduction of an electronic hand hygiene monitoring system: A cohort observational study.Antimicrobial Resistance & Infection Control, 8(1), 1-5.
O’Connor, P., Lambe, K., & Lydon, S. (2021). A moment for hand hygiene in the intensive care unit: How can compliance be improved? International Journal of Integrated Care, 20(3), 1-8. Web.