Importance of Hand Hygiene During Invasive Procedures

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Importance of hand hygiene during invasive procedures The aim of this article was to identify the importance of hand hygiene during invasive procedures, with a primary focus on urinary catheters. A study was done in 2005 and 2006 in the UK of the prevalence of health-care associated infection (HCAI) (Reilly, 2008, Smyth, 2008, O’Grady, 2011). This study was done in acute care and non-acute care settings. During which time England estimated 8.19% of HCAI (Smyth, 2008), Wales approximated 6.35% (Smyth, 2008) and Northern Ireland had the lowest percentile of 5.43% (Fitzpatrick, 2008, Smyth, 2008). Scotland totaled that 7.3% of patients in non-acute and 9.5% of patients in acute care were affected by HCAI. Scotland published in 2011 and 2012 that the prevalence figures of HCAI had decreased to 4.9% (Reilly, 2008). Urinary tract infections are the most common HCAI in hospital acute settings. Urinary tract infections happen too often from poor hygiene and not taking the necessary precautions. The goal is to prevent microorganisms from having the ability to gain access to the urinary tract. However before deeming that a patient needs to be cauterized a couple of factors should be considered such as: Necessity, possibility, feasibility, ambiguity, and sustainability. The main bacteria found in the bloodstream to cause infection is Staphylococcus aureus. Leaving a catheter in for an extended period of time puts the patient at greater risk for an infection. Often healthcare professions insert catheters unnecessarily without considering other methods and in turn are exposing the patient to infection. Doctors and nurses also need to ensure that the catheter is removed when it is no longer necessary. It is also important to prevent backflow from the drainage bag so it is necessary to keep the drainage bag lower than the bladder (Pratt, 2007, Gould, 2010). The

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