Overview Statement
Healthcare firms have been on the frontline to prevent the spread of infections from doctors or nurses to patients and vice versa. The first compliance plan involves washing hands before and after patient contact, which is a basic solution that prevents bacteria spread in healthcare institutions. The first policy behind hand hygiene is to wash hands regularly by applying a protective cream or kind of a lotion every moment a healthcare worker handles patients. Secondly, the World Health Organization (WHO) has pressed hospitals to always have alcohol-centric hand hygiene products while at the same time having the education to staff and administrative support.
Procedures applicable for doctors in washing hands during their daily tasks include various steps. Firstly, doctors should wet their hands with clean running water from a tap using soap (Alhassan, 2020). Secondly, they should lather the hands by rubbing them using soap to spread evenly on the hands and nails. Additionally, scrubbing hands for at least twenty seconds can be useful. Furthermore, the doctors should rinse their hands well using clean running water from the tap. Lastly, drying hands using a clean towel with compliment other procedures and ensure that the safety of the patients is guaranteed (Alshammari et al., 2018). Monitoring tools include direct observation of a handwashing practice, electronic counting of the gel used, and measurement of the amount of alcohol used per given time.
The second compliance plan involves the knowledge of fire extinguishers in hospitals. The policies include the installation of functional fire extinguishing containers in all sections of the hospital setting. Secondly, fire extinguishers should be checked and approved of the functionality after every month depending on the type (Lee et al., 2020). Additionally, WHO has recommended hospitals to train employees on how to use fire extinguisher equipment. In terms of procedures, the acronym PASS may be utilized to train the employees, which means, pulling of the pin for activation, aiming the nozzle directly to the firebase, and squeezing the handle that expels the agent where the fire is concentrated (Wang & Wang, 2020). The monitoring tool that is frequently applied includes conducting a visual inspection at least once a month to make sure they are useful and functional.
Summary Statement
While working on this project, I was equipped with the necessary skills that have embedded in my memory concerning safety, regulations and in hospitals. During the project, I realized that research was necessary because some of the requirements must be universal, and, hence I could not express myself from a literal understanding of the issues. Similarly, during the project, I got extra information from global health organizations such as WHO and also occupation safety and health administration (OSHA), that have a rationale for various intervention measures. The projects enabled me to make use of the cognitive ability in problem-solving in a healthcare setting.
The project strengthened my understanding of healthcare compliance rules and regulations. For instance, while researching the policies and procedures about hand hygiene, I got information about the proven benefits of hand hygiene. The concept of handwashing was introduced during the 1800s by Ignaz Semmelweis, a Hungarian physician (Alhassan, 2020). According to the doctor, hand hygiene prevented deaths in postpartum females. The transmission of pathogens in a healthcare setting is altered for the benefit of staff, patients, and other stakeholders. In regards to the second compliance of fire extinguishing knowledge in hospitals, I understood more on the role of preventing fire in hospitals. For instance, it leads to more safety of patients, doctors, and property, and therefore, there are no cases of legal actions that may arise of personal and group liability (Lee et al., 2020). On that note, I familiarized myself with various principles of fire safety such as life safety, notification, extinguish, and evacuation. In the future, I feel confident about my ability to assist my colleagues on hand hygiene and fire safety in the place of work.
References
Alhassan, A. (2020). Nurses hand hygiene compliance: An observational study in Tamale Teaching Hospital, Ghana.ARC Journal of Nursing and Healthcare, 6(2), 11-15.
Alshammari, M., Reynolds, K., Verhougstraete, M., & O’Rourke, M. (2018). Comparison of perceived and observed hand hygiene compliance in healthcare workers in MERS-CoV endemic regions. Healthcare, 6(4), 122.
Lee, Y., Lee, J., Kim, S., Chon, S., Choi, B., Oh, S., & Kim, S. (2020). A study on the development of fire extinguishing agents and extinguishing system for ESS fire.Fire Science and Engineering, 34(2), 147-155.
Wang, S., & Wang, X. (2020). Empirical research on electric fire extinguishing performance by application of water-based fire extinguishing agent.IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science, 474(6), 052097.