Handwashing is an important aspect of personal hygiene and a way to prevent additional difficulties which may appear while providing healthcare services. Moreover, it has become vital under current conditions, namely the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, non-compliance with the rules of washing hands and personal hygiene leads to negative consequences, such as the spread of existing diseases and the emergence of hospital-acquired infections (HAIs). Thereby, this issue is an actual problem, the solution of which may be formulated by the proposed intervention. The aim of the work is to consider the intervention in the context of nursing theory, as well as to analyze the implementation plan and possible problems.
Nursing Theory
Nowadays, there are many nursing theories that define important aspects in the healthcare area. In the context of HAIs and personal hygiene (handwashing), the most appropriate theory is the self-care nursing model. It focuses on all the activities that must be performed by both the patient and the doctors for a proper treatment process (Smith, 2019). In this regard, handwashing is a necessary procedure, and each patient and doctor has to perform it. For the most effective application of this procedure, it is necessary to formulate an implementation plan with outcome measures. Thereby, the proposed plan will include the model of centralized provision of handwashing equipment and some additional factors.
Implementation Plan
The implementation plan includes two main aspects, the intervention itself and the measure of outcomes. Personal hygiene and sanitation of the environment are two fundamental factors in the provision of medical services (Achi, 2020). Thus, one needs to provide patients and doctors with the possibility of convenient and unhindered access to personal hygiene. Based on the modern conditions of hospitals, this can be installed on all floors and premises of portable personal hygiene stations. They will include three functions, namely hand washing, drying, and sprinkling with a special alcohol solution. This is necessary because the COVID-19 infection can be destroyed not by one mild solution but by a high-percentage solution. Moreover, these installations may be installed next to the bed with patients who find it difficult to move on their own. Thus, the plan consists of several phases: installation of equipment, instruction of patients and doctors, and evaluation of effectiveness or outcome measures.
Evidence-Based Practice and the Intervention Plan
For the effective intervention of any health care strategy, several factors must be taken into account. These factors include desired outcomes, nursing capability, diagnosis characteristics, acceptability by the patient, and the research base (Butcher et al. 2018). The last one involves evidence-based practice, and its importance is formulated by the credibility of reasons and background information for the implementation. In this case, the evidence-based practice involved the analysis of current studies and data representing how essential is the personal hygiene and HAIs prevention process.
Evaluating the Proposed Plan & Barriers
Evaluation of the results of the intervention is an important factor because it allows one to see the effective and ineffective aspects of the chosen strategy. In the current case, the evaluation plan of the proposed plan will be formulated in two phases. The first phase includes conducting an analysis of the number of HAIs occurrences for a certain period of time. The next phase would be formulated by concluding if these indicators changed after the implementation. In regards to potential barriers, those could be constituted by the necessity of constant monitoring of personal hygiene procedures conducting. However, it could be managed by encouraging patients and personnel by demonstrating the consequences of HAIs.
References
Achi, O. (2020). Manual of nursing procedures and practice. Wolters Kluwer India Pvt Ltd.
Butcher, H. K., Bulechek, G. M., Dochterman, J. M., & Wagner, C. M. (2018). Nursing interventions classification. Elsevier Health Sciences.
Smith, M. C. (2019). Nursing theories and nursing practice. F. A. Davis.