Hospital Acquired Infection

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Hospital Acquired Infection (HAI), or as it is sometimes referred to as Nosocomial infection; is an infection occurring in patients after admission to hospital that was neither present nor incubating at the time of admission. This student will discuss the role of the nurse in preventing hospital acquired infection while on clinical placement, define HAI, and look at the causes of HAI and how it is spread. This student will also show in order to minimise these risks, systems must in place, understood and implemented by all concerned.
Plowman (1997) claimed that, 6,000 deaths per year are caused by HAI, with significant financial costs for the NHS and personal costs for patients’ families. Other factors include separation from family, anxiety, sense of isolation and stigma. Glynn et al (1997) investigated the effects on the rate of infection of certain known risk factors such as age, underlying disease, and length of hospital and the use of invasive procedures. He found that it was in the use of invasive devices, which increased the infection rate from one HAI per 100 patient’s episodes to 7.2, and goes on to state “this is important for nurses because they manage invasive devices, such as urinary catheters, intravascular cannulae, epidural cannulae, nasogastric tubes, and peg tubes, which often identify the early signs of infection” (McCullach, 1998).

The (NMC 2002) states “nurses have a duty to safeguard the wellbeing of patients and have a due regard for the environment of care” Code of professional conduct. Nurses must be sure that they do not contribute to infection risks and must take care to prevent infection whenever possible. Much of this is through basic nursing care such as ensuring the patient is clean and their skin is intact, the mouth is healthy, promoting mobility, promoting continence, improving the patients’ nutritional and hydration status

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