Overview and Significance of the Practice Issue
The influence of hand hygiene on healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) is a practical issue. HAIs are among the most common health issues affecting most hospitals due to contamination. Although every patient is at risk of developing HAIs, evidence shows that those who have had surgeries are at high risk of contracting these infections. These infections occur in patients while they are receiving healthcare services in hospitals.
HAIs are a considerable healthcare problem, even though they are most often preventable issues for patients. It involves multiple infections acquired in healthcare facilities (Engdaw et al., 2019). These infections are the primary reason why patients who have undergone surgery do not recover as scheduled, leading to a substantial cost of care, prolonged hospitalization, escalated workload for nurses, and increased readmission rates.
Consequently, hand hygiene is a critical element of overall well-being, and breaches of hygiene rules harm health circumstances. Understanding the relationship between hand hygiene compliance and infections is vital to enhancing patient safety and reducing HAIs. Hence, knowing the role of hygiene is important in the nursing practice. The breach of hand hygiene leads to mortality, escalating healthcare costs, and patient morbidity.
Furthermore, awareness of the potential risks associated with the practice issue may help protect vulnerable patients (Buković et al., 2021). Based on this factor, nurses can improve patient outcomes, enhance healthcare quality, and highlight the correlation between hand hygiene compliance and HAIs.
PICOT Statement
Will executing new hygiene measures for healthcare providers and patients (P) to enhance hand hygiene programs (I) and support proper training initiatives and the provisions of suppliers (C) to reduce HAIs because of non-compliance with hand hygiene protocols (O) at different timeframes based on the promotional programs and approaches applied to enhance the positive results (T)?
Population and Problem
The population comprises patients and healthcare providers. The problem occurs due to non-compliance with overall hygiene protocols and practices.
Intervention
The proposed intervention is to adopt hand hygiene measures, such as hand washing and sanitization of surgical equipment, to prevent HAIs, and to implement inward sanitization to help control HAIs in healthcare facilities.
Comparison
Hygiene measures will be compared to the use of antibiotics, such as Clindamycin and Linezolid, in the prevention and management of healthcare-associated infections.
Outcome
With the implementation of hygiene measures to manage and prevent HAIs, it is anticipated that readmission rates and lengthy hospitalizations will decrease, healthcare costs will decrease, recovery time from surgical wounds can be improved, and overall healthcare outcomes for patients and healthcare providers will be enhanced.
Timeframe
The timeframes will vary due to the promotional initiatives and practices implemented to achieve positive outcomes. In the HAIs case, the full recovery time for postoperative patients is approximately three months, which offers sufficient time to monitor the selected population and assess the efficiency and effectiveness of this intervention.
Proposed Intervention and Expected Outcome
Whereas healthcare providers have primarily focused on the application of antibiotics in the management and prevention of HAIs, the change system aims to implement an evidence-based program change practice to adopt an intervention that is cheaper, more effective, and without additional side effects for patients. These infections are caused by bacteria that can be prevented through hygiene measures, such as hand hygiene and equipment sterilization (Buković et al., 2021).
Therefore, to improve patient recovery in healthcare facilities, I recommend implementing hand hygiene practices, such as handwashing and sanitizing surgical equipment through educational and training programs, and adopting hygiene measures as standard operating procedures (Mugambe et al., 2021). A focus group of experienced nurses, clinical educators, and representatives from associated nursing program departments is required to design, plan, and execute intensive educational and training programs in healthcare facilities focused on hand hygiene practices.
The program will involve a blend of organizational and department-specific orientations, with clinical educators and experienced nurses guiding participants on good hygiene practices in healthcare premises for both patients and healthcare providers. These scheduled assessments and feedback opportunities will be available for three to four months (Irek et al., 2019). There is substantial evidence that hand hygiene education and training programs help reduce HAIs in hospitals, leading to lower readmission and hospitalization rates.
Synthesis of Evidence to Support the Proposed Intervention
In resolving the HAI issue, it is essential to identify the risk factors that contribute to infection development. According to the CDC, hand hygiene measures protect healthcare providers and patients from infections. The simple act of handwashing may help prevent the spread of germs, including those resistant to antibiotics. The majority of healthcare staff will have to wash their hands many times during their work shift.
Hence, keeping one’s hands clean and healthy is a challenge (CDC, 2020). It requires that all healthcare staff and patients are educated and knowledgeable about how to care for their hands and the frequency with which they should be cleaned. Healthcare employees are known to be the primary source of the spread of HAIs. According to Mouajou et al. (2022), lower HAIs rates were achieved with hand hygiene compliance rates of around 60%. Hence, both adherence to hand hygiene guidelines and practicing hand hygiene are anticipated to reduce the risk of spreading infections.
Furthermore, HAIs have drawn the attention of health agencies globally as they are the most common adverse cases of infections in the healthcare system. However, hand hygiene strategies are an efficient and effective means of preventing HAIs because healthcare staff’s hands often act as vectors in spreading organisms from their hands to patients. Hand hygiene practice significantly reduces HAIs and is an effective way to prevent and manage these infections in hospitals (Andriani & Nadjib, 2018).
Therefore, hand hygiene emerges as essential to ensure patient safety. In addition, poor compliance with hand hygiene practices is a key contributing factor to HAIs. For instance, a study in Ethiopia found that overall hand hygiene compliance among healthcare providers is insufficient (Engdaw et al., 2019). Sufficient water and soap availability, training and education programs, healthcare providers’ attitudes, sanitizers, and knowledge of hand hygiene measures are all significantly related to compliance with hand hygiene in healthcare facilities.
Stakeholder Implications
In practice, compliance with hand hygiene remains low and requires additional strategies to train and educate stakeholders on its significance in healthcare settings to reduce HAIs. In practice, more women wash their hands than men, and among healthcare providers, nurses are observed to achieve higher hand hygiene compliance than doctors. Despite hand hygiene being proven to be the most effective way to reduce HAIs, its compliance remains low.
Frontline physicians, nurses, and patients at the healthcare facility during care provision are most affected by HAIs due to poor hand hygiene compliance. Lambe et al. (2021) found that guaranteeing the availability of vital supplies for hand hygiene compliance was an intervention that most stakeholders approved. Stakeholders considered interventions that included peer-to-peer accountability, role models, and support, while training and educational programs are also widespread and commonplace.
References
Andriani, Y., & Nadjib, M. (2018). The importance of implementation of hand hygiene practice in reducing healthcare-associated infections: A systematic review. KnE Life Sciences, 4(9), 135.
Buković, E., Kurtović, B., Rotim, C., Svirčević, V., Friganović, A. i Važanić, D. (2021). Compliance with Hand Hygiene Among Healthcare Workers in Preventing Healthcare Associated Infections – A Systematic Review. Journal of Applied Health Sciences = Časopis za primijenjene zdravstvene znanosti, 7 (1), 57-69.
CDC. (2020). Hand hygiene in healthcare settings.
Engdaw, G. T., Gebrehiwot, M., & Andualem, Z. (2019). Hand hygiene compliance and associated factors among health care providers in central Gondar zone public primary hospitals, northwest Ethiopia. Antimicrobial Resistance & Infection Control, 8(1).
Irek, E. O., Aliyu, A. A., Dahiru, T., Obadare, T. O., & Aboderin, A. O. (2019). Healthcare-associated infections and compliance of hand hygiene among healthcare workers in a tertiary health facility, Southwest Nigeria. Journal of Infection Prevention, 20(6), 289-296.
Lambe, K., Lydon, S., McSharry, J., Byrne, M., Squires, J., Power, M., Domegan, C., & O’Connor, P. (2021). Identifying interventions to improve hand hygiene compliance in the intensive care unit through Co-design with stakeholders. HRB Open Research, 4, 64.
Mouajou, V., Adams, K., DeLisle, G., & Quach, C. (2022). Hand hygiene compliance in the prevention of hospital-acquired infections: A systematic review. Journal of Hospital Infection, 119, 33-48.
Mugambe, R. K., Mselle, J. S., Ssekamatte, T., Ntanda, M., Isunju, J. B., Wafula, S. T., Kansiime, W. K., Isubikalu, P., Ssemwanga, D., Yakubu, H., & Moe, C. L. (2021). Impact of mhealth messages and environmental cues on hand hygiene practice among healthcare workers in the greater Kampala metropolitan area, Uganda: Study protocol for a cluster randomized trial. BMC Health Services Research, 21(1).