Patient Safety
Patient Safety and Efforts of Infection Prevention in the Surgical Field
Dana Cook
Nova Southeastern University
Patient Safety and Efforts of Infection Prevention in the Surgical Field It is estimated that 1 in 10 patients will experience a nosocomial infection (Biddle, 2009). With this staggering fact, patient safety and infection prevention is at the forefront of healthcare. Many changes have occurred in this area since the 1840s. This is when Semmelweis, a Viennese obstetrician, made the observation, that women giving birth in an institutional setting 20% of them died of a febrile illness, whereas only about 1% in the home setting. He suggested that somehow a toxin was being spread from patient to patient on the hands of the care providers. This led him to demanding that physicians and nurses involved in obstetrical delivery wash their hands between patients (Biddle, 2009). Patient safety goals as described by American Association of College of Nurses, is to minimize risk to patients and providers as well, through an effective system of care or individual performance (Graduate level Quality and Safety Education for Nurses competencies knowledge, skills, & and attitudes, 2012). With the changes to the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare changing reimbursement policies, it is no wonder why we are going to even greater lengths to educate and implement new procedures to prevent hospital acquired infections. The purpose of this paper is to describe the issues of infection control in the surgical area and efforts that are being made to prevent surgical site infections.
Problem
Patient safety is defined by as the avoidance, prevention, and improvement of adverse outcomes stemming from the healthcare process (Cole, 2011). “Healthcare-associated infection (HCAI), is defined as an infection that is acquired as a consequence of a person’s treatment by a healthcare provider, is an example of an adverse incident” (Cole, 2011, p. 1122). In the surgical area, the
Dana Cook
Nova Southeastern University
Patient Safety and Efforts of Infection Prevention in the Surgical Field It is estimated that 1 in 10 patients will experience a nosocomial infection (Biddle, 2009). With this staggering fact, patient safety and infection prevention is at the forefront of healthcare. Many changes have occurred in this area since the 1840s. This is when Semmelweis, a Viennese obstetrician, made the observation, that women giving birth in an institutional setting 20% of them died of a febrile illness, whereas only about 1% in the home setting. He suggested that somehow a toxin was being spread from patient to patient on the hands of the care providers. This led him to demanding that physicians and nurses involved in obstetrical delivery wash their hands between patients (Biddle, 2009). Patient safety goals as described by American Association of College of Nurses, is to minimize risk to patients and providers as well, through an effective system of care or individual performance (Graduate level Quality and Safety Education for Nurses competencies knowledge, skills, & and attitudes, 2012). With the changes to the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare changing reimbursement policies, it is no wonder why we are going to even greater lengths to educate and implement new procedures to prevent hospital acquired infections. The purpose of this paper is to describe the issues of infection control in the surgical area and efforts that are being made to prevent surgical site infections.
Problem
Patient safety is defined by as the avoidance, prevention, and improvement of adverse outcomes stemming from the healthcare process (Cole, 2011). “Healthcare-associated infection (HCAI), is defined as an infection that is acquired as a consequence of a person’s treatment by a healthcare provider, is an example of an adverse incident” (Cole, 2011, p. 1122). In the surgical area, the
References: American Association of Colleges of Nurses Graduate Level QSEN Compentencies.20130126233929936259985American Association of Colleges of Nurses 2012 Graduate Level QSEN Compentencies.20130126234226674672246American Association of Colleges of Nurses 2012 Graduate Level QSEN Compentencies.201301262337031298058033American Association of Colleges of Nurses2013012623382925893092Biddle C Semmelweis Revisted: Hand Hygiene and Nosocomial Disease Transmission in the Anesthesia Workstation.201301262345581028985024Biddle C 2009 Semmelweis Revisted: Hand Hygiene and Noscomial Disease Transmission in the Anesthesia Workstation.Biddle, C. (June, 2009). Semmelweis revisited: Hand hygiene and nosocomial disease transmission in the anesthesia workstation. American Association of Nurse Anesthetists, 77, 229-230. 20130126232224839548707 Biddle C 2009 Semmelweis Revisted: Hand Hygiene and Nosocomial Disease Transmission in the Anesthesia Workstation.20130126234749167157530Cole M 2011 Patient safety and healthcare-associated infection.Cole, M. (2011). Patient safety and healthcare-associated infection. British Journal of Nursing, 20(17), 1122-1126. 20130203115907488844752 Graduate level QSEN compentencies knowledge skills and attitudes 2012 Graduate level QSEN compentencies knowledge, skills, and attitudesGraduate level QSEN competencies knowledge, skills, and attitudes (2012, September 24). Graduate level QSEN competencies knowledge, skills, and attitudes. Retrieved February 1, 2013, from http://www.aacn.nche.edu/qsen/home 20130201204134512871265