Introduction
After reviewing current records, it has been noted that the infection rate of Nosocomial infections is on the rise at LHAC. After thorough research, it has been identified that this is due to failure of our sterilization processes and equipment as well as very unorthodox health practices by some of our staff coupled with improper allocation of bed space to potentially infectious patients.
Root Cause
The root cause of the rise in the rates of nosocomial infections was found to be improper allocation of bed space to patients closely followed by the failure of our sterilization procedures and equipment. The levels of nosocomial infections rose by an appalling 24% the last year, a whooping 10% more than the levels recorded by Chicago Hope the same year.
Outcome
It is in this light that we have decided to develop more special wards, and more accurate screening services. We identified Pseudomonas as a particularly troublesome and notorious organism therefore we decided to be segregating any patients with such infections in their own wards as well as applying more stringent infection procedures. As for the problematic sterilization process we decided to procure a new autoclaving machine, and use new disinfectants that couldn’t be inactivated by body fluids just incase the ones we had weren’t effective.
Equipment
The problem of having inadequate and old equipment has led to sharing of certain equipment by patients, as the staff employ some unorthodox methods of sterilization that are ineffective leading to transfer of infection from one patient to the next.
I therefore suggested that:
- More state of the art equipment be bought
- The members of staff undergo mandatory courses on Infection control and safe practice.
Outcome
The suggestion on procurement of equipment was taken very positively by the management, with the only hindering problem being the acute lack of funds in the hospital’s account.
Most of the staff felt that they were being undermined, as they said they were conversant with infection control procedures, in light of this, very few willingly undertook the course leading to lower morale amongst those who were forced by management to undertake it.
These unsatisfactory results, led to my developing alternative options like, sourcing donors for the procurement of equipment in return for some free workshops and health drives. As for motivation of staff I suggested that some kind of sitting allowances be paid to the employees who participated in the infection control course.
Benchmarking Partner
I chose PriceWaterHouseCoopers as my benchmarking partner; this was because they are an established audit company with already established channels and procedures as well as being very professional.
The next time I will take a collaborative approach to benchmarking and involve more companies.
Process Improvement Strategy
I chose to use the CMMI model of process improvement, as it adopts an approach that is continuous and allows for constant improvement and picking of subsequent areas that need improvement.
The outcome of the process improvement strategy wasn’t immediately evident but the process is still continuous, and currently I am intending to begin the reassessment of the problem areas.
Summary & Conclusions
The problem of nosocomial infections is a worldwide problem, that try as we may, may never be completely dealt with, this is due to the fact that nothing infected patients who are not yet symptomatic may be very difficult. This simulation showed that striving to achieve excellence is a continuous process that begins with the identification of problem areas followed by change then evaluation and the process begins all over again. This simulation also shows that no status quo or way of doing things should be taken as the best, and that there is always room for improvement.
References
Camp, R. (1989). The search for industry best practices that lead to superior performance, Productivity Press.