Importance of Hand-Hygiene to Prevent Healthcare-Associated Infections Essay

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Introduction

Hygiene is an essential factor in promoting healthy well-being among dynamic counterparts. After the COVID-19 pandemic, a significant percentage of the patients and practitioners encountered dynamic challenges in alleviating the coronavirus spread among people. One of the vital practices that render hygienic standards is the frequent washing of hands. According to research, it is the responsibility of all entities, mainly patients and physicians, to wash their hands to avoid the spread and contraction of infectious diseases across the various treatment and medication platforms for primary care service provision. There is an interdependent relationship between healthcare quality, adequate recovery, nursing professional expertise, and the profound hand-hygiene concept and practice.

Statement of the Problem

Hand hygiene is a practice within medical institutions that significantly impacts patients’ mortality and morbidity rate. Research by Lazo-Porras et al. (2021) indicates that the critical mandate among practitioners entails promoting hygienic standards to prevent cross-infection among patients and nurses. Lazo-Porras et al. (2021) depict that at least 40% of hospital-acquired infections are attributed to cross-infection among patients, physicians, and inanimate surfaces, such as medical equipment, mobile phones, and bedside tables. It is vital to address the issue mainly because of the proficiency in determining the media of contamination and processes. One of the contact surfaces that poses the controversy regarding the hand-hygienic standards is the use of mobile phones. Nurses prominently use cell phones during their shifts to calculate drug dosages and additional information about an illness and make critical calls to doctors. Therefore, the persistent use of the tools and the frequency of touching inanimate contact surfaces fosters the importance of exploring hand-hygienic standard practices and the core solutions to the imminent challenges.

Health Disparities

Since the intensification in the use of technology in the healthcare sector, a significant percentage of the institutions have focused on implementing effective practices. According to Marra and Edmond (2014), health disparity emanates from the knowledge gap among distinctive medical practitioners. The researchers further articulate that compliance with hand hygiene relies on the efficacy scale of technology involved in monitoring the quality indicator based on hand-hygienic standards. Although hand hygiene is a common prevention mechanism against the cross-infection issue, only 50% of the medical centers comply with the initiative. The reasons for the non-compliance enshrine skepticism on hand hygiene as a prevention mechanism, insufficient incentives for hand hygiene practice, work overload, insufficient time, and the lack of adequate knowledge. The various factors contribute to the optimal healthcare disparity concerning providing high-quality services to the patients.

This study is an evidence-based practice that prominently impacts the quotient of patient care. In my second week of the capstone practicum, gathering details for the topical discussion justified the topic’s selection mainly because of the reliance on objective insights. According to Clarisse (2013), the main aim of evidence-based practice involves contributing to the mobilization of clinical experience through the acquired knowledge. In this case, the foundation of the practicum encompassed the utilization of observation and literature review to justify the existing health disparity under the spectral view of hand hygiene. Although different medical clinics utilize dynamic healing strategies for the patients, observing hand hygiene is a primary source of high healthcare quality within an institution.

New Practice Approaches

Technological advancement is a quotient that profoundly affects the necessity of improving healthcare quality. Pratt et al. (2021) argue for mobile applications assessing medical procedures and predicting outcomes. The main goal of the technological incorporation entails affirming the efficacy scale and decision-making in determining the best treatment aspects. In this case, Pratt et al. (2021) establish that one of the best treatment approaches requiring mobile application links to improve care provision is behavioral-based health treatment. Ideally, the lack of articulate aspects in the implementation process risks the inefficiency and inadequacy in determining core practical medical aspects.

The use of technology in the healthcare sector poses a dynamic effect based on the adept incorporation of initiatives based on prominent hygienic standards. There is an optimal link between Pratt et al. (2021) and Lazo-Porras et al. (2021) based on the use of mobile phones in advancing the quality of healthcare service delivery. On the one hand, Pratt et al. (2021) focus on the essence of mobile applications assisting in collecting primary data used in behavioral-based health treatments. On the other hand, Lazo-Porras et al. (2021) establish the vulnerability posed by cell phones in medical clinics mainly because of their aspect as a medium of cross-infection. As a result, the apt establishment of technology proficiently influences efficiency towards the counterparts and the operational outlier in the healthcare institutions.

During my ninth-week practicum, I focused on establishing a new practice approach in nursing to justify the evolutionary scale. I noticed that a significant percentage of physicians utilize modern technology to attain big data for healthcare management among patients. The process was used prominently among asthma and diabetic patients. The practitioners primarily used the strategies to establish core initiatives on improving healthcare quality and service delivery system. It is impressive that academic institutions and medical clinic executive teams adeptly invest in modern technology to elevate the sector’s professionalism trickle-down effect.

Interprofessional Collaboration

The healthcare sector is one of the vital aspects that influences the living quotients across a dynamic populace. The lack of coordination among distinct stakeholders risks the emanation of health disparities. Interprofessional collaboration entails the involvement of personalities from different industries in developing initiatives that boost proficiency in the healthcare service delivery system. CheapNursing (2021) reports that the core mandate among nursing professionals involves observing hand hygienic standards. The report identifies distinct aspects that demand the prioritization of hand-hygiene practice. These approaches enshrine before patient contact, after contact with the patient’s surroundings, after a body fluid exposure risk occurs, before an antiseptic procedure, and after touching a patient. Notably, the practice relies on coordination among all entities mainly because of the necessity to ensure consistency.

Hand hygiene is necessary, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, mainly because of the ease of cross-infection. On the one hand, CheapNursing (2021) postulates that healthcare professionals ought to wash their hands to alleviate the risks of cross-transmission of bacterial and viral infections. On the other hand, CheapNursing (2021) depicts that critical stakeholders’ responsibility is to incorporate technologies that support and enhance hand hygiene. During the tenth week of practicum, I noticed that the core solution to advancing interprofessional collaboration is integrating technological systems in the operations to elevate the core aspect of connectivity and sharing insights. Healthcare quality relies on ensuring the optimal distribution of the services among all personnel.

Patient Care Integrity

Patient care can be high quality and efficiently based on integrating dynamic aspects during medical practitioners’ practice. Different variables influence the quality and efficacy scale of healthcare provision among patients. One of the fundamental approaches is the level of expertise and strategies used during diagnosis, treatment, and recovery. The metaparadigm of nursing is a conceptual framework that significantly affects the delivery of patient services and care coordination among nurses (Gómez-Salgado et al., 2019). On the one hand, it is the responsibility of the medical practitioners to implement philosophies and theories that enhance recovery and living quotient among sick individuals. Integrating core ethical and professional values in a different spectrum fosters proficiency in nurse-patient interaction and the determination of effective medication and therapeutic domain.

The critical responsibility among physicians is to incorporate initiatives that boost healthcare quality and efficiency. The lack of optimal professionalism risks increased re-hospitalization rates, patient complications, and a reduced well-being index. Therefore, the deliverables for healthcare operations feature high-quality and efficient service systems among their counterparts. An excellent example of a deliverable that enhances competent performance is the metaparadigm of nursing. The nursing theory encapsulates a mainframe integrating person, environment, nursing, and health. In this case, an individual’s treatment and recovery engulf the utilization of the four quotients. The nurse’s mandate entails educating the patient and the family concerning the treatment procedure and suitable therapeutic environment (Gómez-Salgado et al., 2019). Notably, the aspect intensifies care coordination among all stakeholders while observing optimal healing and therapy among the ill personnel.

The core foundation of patient care enshrines the apt consideration of two major parameters: high quality and efficiency. It is possible for medical practitioners to achieve the core objective based on the intersection of ethical and professional practice. Integrating the metaparadigm of nursing enlightens physicians, patients, families, and communities concerning the interdependent nature of a high health index. Prominent care coordination among all entities renders the necessary conditions for therapeutic remedy among patients and service experience. In my sixth week, I realized that equality in healthcare service delivery relies on the ability of the relevant stakeholders to incorporate strategies that enhance affordability and accessibility. In this case, the Americans enjoy a higher healthcare quality index based on their proficiency in the service delivery system.

Healthcare Delivery

There is an interdependent relationship between nursing professionalism and quality improvement strategy. The coercion within a working environment attributes toxicity among nurses. In this case, a significant percentage of the nursing experience negativity while performing their duties and responsibilities. It is a condition that impacts the productivity levels among the workers. It is essential to develop approaches that enhance the eradication of arrogance and domineering within the institution (Kryzanowski et al., 2019). Another factor rendered by autocracy is the attainment of a significant turnover rate in the organization. The majority of medical practitioners seek career growth and development in a safe workplace. However, authoritarianism and dictatorship hinder the optimal change in the operations for better performance. The poor delivery of services by the nurses and doctors risks the quality of care among the patients. The efficient treatment approach for patients enshrines the optimal sharing of detailed information about the medication and physiological recovery graph. Therefore, the lack of communication among the practitioners fosters a barrier to delivering adequate knowledge regarding patients.

The eradication of poor working conditions in the nursing sector is an approach that profoundly impacts the quality improvement initiative. Healthcare management should focus on implementing policies that abolish coercion and intimidation among the nurses and the administration. An excellent example is dynamic staff scheduling. In a healthcare institution, it is essential to boost the employee’s morale to achieve optimal patient care and increase the institution’s flow of revenue and income. On the one hand, it is the management’s duty and responsibility to ensure convenience during the operations. On the other hand, the allocation of roles relies on strategic approaches such as flexible, block, surgical suite, dynamic block, and cyclical scheduling (Ozcan, 2017). It is appropriate to utilize flexible scheduling mainly because it facilitates the practitioner’s effective disposal of different experiences. Although surgical suite scheduling largely determines staff engagement, it is essential to incorporate compliance among the team while conducting their duties. The quality improvement initiative primarily affects the nurses, administration, and patients.

Nursing is a field of expertise that involves measuring the quality of services and the consistency in the provision of the treatment plans to a patient. In this case, different theoretical frameworks establish the core factor that fosters quality improvement in the healthcare sector. Kryzanowski et al. (2019) postulate that various indicators determine the quality of healthcare services. These indicators include improved patient care, a better population health index, lower hospital bills, costs, and a highly productive workforce. In this case, the critical healthcare issue entails the increasing rate of bullies in hospitals. A nursing facility renders a profound factor towards effective administration to deliver services to a significant percentage of the patients and equality among the practitioners.

Ethical Practice in Healthcare

Ethics in the healthcare sector is one of the significant factors affecting the quality of medical care mainly because of the necessity to uphold a client’s desires. Over the decades, legal frameworks focused on establishing the borders during the interaction between a medical practitioner and a patient (Gilbar & Foster, 2018). In this case, it is the responsibility of the physician to follow the guidelines, such as seeking consent during a medical procedure from the patient and the essence of the patient’s confidentiality.

Failure to seek consent from a patient risks the violation of the individual’s right to proper health. The critical professional expectation of a doctor involves protecting the sick person’s life. However, in other cases, the ill person gives the authority and considers the alternatives. An excellent example is a patient whose leg is infected, and one of the doctor’s proposals is to cut off the part below the knee to save the upper part of the leg and the rest of the body from the infection. However, a different option is seeking expensive surgery from a highly reputable institution to alleviate the effects of the illness and its spread. Therefore, it is essential to optimally inform the patient regarding the options to enhance high-quality healthcare services (Wade, 2020). The medical practitioners’ mandate is to incorporate measures that enhance optimal patient care. In my sixth week, I noticed that affordability and accessibility to healthcare services depend on patients’ and nurses’ ability to comprehend the critical initiative regarding ethical practice.

One of the fields that experience the significant challenges of the interplay between morality and social obligations is the healthcare sector. An example of a situation that sparks the interplay between deontology and teleology is the surgeon’s obligation to harvest organs from one patient to save five other patients’ lives. On the one hand, deontology considers the obligation of the surgeon to save lives. Therefore, it becomes a dilemma for the surgeon to save one patient and risk the other five patients’ lives. On the other hand, the teleology philosophy establishes that the outcome determines the decision by the surgeon. In this case, if harvesting organs from one patient enhances the saving of five other patients from the transplants, it becomes the best and most appropriate decision (Dinçer & Akgul, 2020). Teleology is a deductive perspective during decision-making, while deontology is an inductive platform for decision-making.

Population Health Concerns

Different factors influence the quality of living among communities, hence incorporating strategies that elevate the perceptive aspect. During my fifth practicum week, I noticed that the vital aspects affecting community health enshrine environmental and sociological domains. On the one hand, incorporating sustainable practices that enhance a healthy environment improves the quality of living. On the other hand, sociological factors, such as food insecurity and unemployment, significantly influence populace health, a significant component of the Affordable Care Act. The main goal towards promoting healthy living among people involves the integration of policy frameworks, such as the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid, to boost the distribution and effective treatment and recovery process. in this case, the vital component in the spectrum encompasses advocacy for hand-hygiene practice and the facilitation to elevate the positive outcome.

Hand hygiene is an essential practice across the global population mainly because it influences the risk of cross-infections. It is the responsibility of all stakeholders to attain necessary knowledge and skills based on the promotion of hand hygiene. One of the aspects that demands apt investment is the availability of the resource for washing the hands, namely, clean and adequate water and soap. Another initiative is training practitioners concerning the best approaches to sanitize mobile phones, identified as common medium of cross-infections. The distinct aspects in the implementation of the strategy fosters profound healthy living quotient.

References

CheapNursing. (2021). COVID-19- An update for 2021.

Clarisse, A. L. D. V. C. (2013). Prática baseada na evidência em terapia da fala (Doctoral dissertation, Escola Superior de Tecnologia da Saúde de Lisboa).

Dinçer, F. İ., & Akgül, S. Ö. (2020). The Comparison of Global Tourism Ethical Principles and Akhism Principles in the Scope of Teleological and Deontological Theories.

Gilbar, R., & Foster, C. (2018). It’s arrived! Relational autonomy comes to court: ABC v St George’s Healthcare NHS Trust [2017] EWCA 336. Medical Law Review, 26(1), 125-133.

Gómez-Salgado, J., Navarro-Abal, Y., López-López, M. J., Romero-Martín, M., & Climent-Rodríguez, J. A. (2019). International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(1), 108.

Kryzanowski, J., Bloomquist, C. D., Dunn-Pierce, T., Murphy, L., Clarke, S., & Neudorf, C. (2019). Canadian Journal of Public Health, 110(1), 58-61.

Lazo-Porras, M., Corante, M., De La Cruz-Saldaña, T., Bohórquez, I., Campos, K., Ricaldi, J., & Malaga, G. (2021). A mHealth intervention to promote hand-washing and cell phone cleaning in medical residents of a public hospital in Peru. The Journal of Infection in Developing Countries, 15(03), 428-435.

Marra, A. R., & Edmond, M. B. (2014). New technologies to monitor healthcare worker hand hygiene. Clinical Microbiology and Infection, 20(1), 29-33.

Ozcan, Y. A. (2017). Analytics and decision support in health care operations management. John Wiley & Sons.

Pratt, K. M., Branch, L. Z., & Houston, J. B. (2021). The practice-based implementation (PBI) network: technology (Tech) into care pilot. Translational Behavioral Medicine, 11(1), 46-55.

Wade, L. (2020). The Lawyer Portal.

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