Infection Control Education Research Paper

Background information b). Description of the issue c). Relevance d). Evidenced based educational strategies e). Theory used f) Purpose of study Methodology………………………………………………………………………………16 a) Data collection strategies b) Sources of data c) Inclusion criteria d) Exclusion criteria Data Analysis………………………………………………………………………………. The study process involved extraction of information from peer-reviewed journals from nursing databases and other credible agencies such as the Center for Disease Control. The exclusion and inclusion criteria were well defined to ensure that only relevant articles were picked for the study. The analysis of data was mainly qualitative, and a comparison of several articles was made. The findings showed that there was a little impact of education in the control and prevention of nosocomial urinary tract infection. However, the most productive educational program was that which was considered to be interactive to the learners, most active learner gained most from the studies.

Hospital-acquired infections can be controlled and prevented by reliance on evidence-based standards during treatment and provision of other healthcare services. Hospital epidemiology and infection control are essential in public health practice that is mostly confined to a particular healthcare provider and not the general community (Farrow & Black, 2009). Infection control entails factors associated with the spread of infections in the hospital; or healthcare environments. It includes steps such as prevention, investigation, monitoring, of suspected or demonstrated of infection in a particular healthcare setting. The purpose of this paper is to investigate peer-reviewed articles and then determine the impact of educational program in the control and prevention of hospital acquired urinary tract infection. The susceptibility of hospital-acquired infection can be attributed to the fact that most hospitalized patients have weak immunity and are thus prone to such conditions.

The patient’s disease or the treatment offered may weaken an individual’s immune system thus making them vulnerable to infections. Many medical procedures may introduce pathogen causing infection into the body thus complicating an individual’s already sick condition (Parasuraman & Julian, 2013). Hospital workers or visitors can also transmit disease from one patient to another. Patients admitted for infectious conditions may transmit the disease to their fellow patients. Providing an effective education to nursing students and other healthcare officials on how to control hospital-acquired urinary tract infections has been related to positive outcomes. Training such individuals on key safety measures will prevent the chances of putting the patient’s life at risk. They will also be able to take good care of medical procedures thus limiting the possibilities of infection transmission.

Such educations should focus on the causative elements of hospital-acquired infections and how healthcare practitioners could manage them The information and data extracting from the hospitals that took part in the program revealed that programs aimed at infection control could significantly lower infection rates, improve the safety of patients, and lower mortality in hospitals (Sharon, 2011). Some of the programs listed by CDC include education of nurses on how to control such infections. Healthcare workers should also consider the probability of air transmission infections. Education is a mind-changing tool. Also, provision of well-structured and purposely intended education can significantly change attitudes and behaviors (Satterlee et al. Healthcare organizations should consider training their workers on a continuous basis to equip them with knowledge and skills in handling emerging healthcare issues.

When it comes to infection control, the importance of education is great and can positively impact the process of healthcare delivery. Such kind of education should aim at producing infection control nurses who specialize in preventing and controlling the spread of infectious agents in a healthcare setting. It is true that the spread of an infectious agent in a healthcare setting could make an already weak patient weaker thus putting the life of the sick person at risk. Effective communication skills and attention to details should part of an educational program aimed at controlling nosocomial infection trained nurses could be able to communicate with other workers on how to contain and prevent epidemics and outbreaks (Satterlee, Eggers & Grimes, 2008). They could also collaborate with government agencies to control such incidents.

Trained infection control nurses could also provide education to patients and civilians and even medical professions from other fields on infection prevention and control technique. Studies conducted by several reviewers show that students had little knowledge when it comes to infection control. Their ability to practice precautions on infection control can be considered as inadequate (Warren, Zack, Cox, Cohen & Fraser, 2003). Such findings from research exercises imply that there is a need for an intense and comprehensive education program for nursing students that will link theory into practice. Areas that have been studied such as washing of hands by nurses and healthcare professionals have been identified as critical factors towards infection control. The above makes it clear that urging nursing professionals through an educational program such as washing their hands, scrubbing the hub before injection, wearing new gloves when handling a new patient, and sterilization is important.

Most of the research has been indirectly related to infection control as some of them enquired on the relevance of washing hands and scrubbing the hub in connection to spread of particular conditions (Thompson, Jefferson & Mermel, 2008). However, education has a significant impact on any individual not necessarily nurses. It is, therefore, possible to conclude that impacting these healthcare professionals with proper educational programs will equip in them the necessary skills needed for control of infection. Such kind of education will also change an organizational culture when it comes to standard practices aimed at controlling infection. There are possibilities that organizations that invest in such education may have several benefits. Another group of authors, Davis et al. (1999) suggested that integrated and interactive education sessions that facilitated activities of participants provide opportunities to learn and practice skills that are essential for bringing change in a professional set up.

Thomson-0 'Brien et al. (2001) conducted a systematic review of 32 studies on the impacts of continuing education concerning the changes in practice behavior and discovered that interactive workshops had a significant impact and resulted in a significant improvement. Another study conducted in 2008 by Satterlee and colleagues discovered that educational benefits were highly correlated to the interactivity of a learner. , Tenke et al. , 2007) The catheter used in the urinary system is a typical fact in medicine and highly valuable when properly applied. The duration and method of use depend on the reasons for the placement of a catheter. Catheters could be used in several circumstances that include to permit drainage of the urinary system, relieve obstruction in the urinary tract, an aid to urologic surgery, for measurement of urinary output in cases of extremely sick patients.

Urinary infections mechanisms often originate from form a patient’s organisms being carried away from an area of colonization which is the urethra to the bladder through hospital procedures. A small catheter as possible to be consistent with an appropriate drainage system. Proper secure of catheters the following insertion to prevent urethral traction and movement. Use and maintenance of closed drainage system. There should be no disconnection unless there is a need for irrigation. Obtaining of urinary samples should be done at the distal sampling port 9. The paper attempts to clarify the relevance of infection education in the control and prevention of hospital-acquired urinary tract infections. There is a possibility that a well-crafted educational program may impact nurses with the necessary skills that are needed to control hospital-acquired urinary tract infections in healthcare settings.

The hygiene procedures and standards well put across in an effective manner will yield appropriate results. A qualitative analysis of resource materials will be investigated to prove that infection control program has positive impacts. Methods The study aimed at investigating the effects of education programs in the prevention and control of urinary tract infections. Such educational programs should also ensure that safety measures are taken into consideration by healthcare practitioners. Discovering such kind of information would help policymakers and healthcare organization in implementing relevant policies and standard procedures that would help bring down the rates of urinary tract infections acquired in hospitals. UTI is the most common hospital-acquired infections and has proven to be a costly exercise to treat (Apisamthanarek et al.

, Tenke et al. The investigation of the above information was done by extracting relevant articles form nursing databases such as Cochrane, PubMed, Cinhl, and. Demographic features are also an important consideration when it comes to conducting healthcare research because environmental factors sometimes cause diseases (Lehaney & Vinten, 2014). In this particular case, information from various research conducted from several countries across the globe was integrated to provide the required information. The reason for not limiting the geographical filters can be attributed to the fact that hospital infection is a global health concern and UTI is tops the list of the most common hospital-acquired infections in many countries across the globe. Therefore, information from one country may be applicable in another. The sample sizes of the article used varied from one study to another.

However, only 12 were used in the subsequent processes including data analysis, interpretation, and the making of conclusions. The articles reviewed contained analysis and data collection on human subjects. The research intended to explore how urinary tract infection can be controlled by using an educational program. UTI in hospital settings is a serious concern that threatens the lives of hospitalized individuals. It is, therefore, appropriate to rely on evidence-based practices to control and prevent the issue. (2004), made a report that education of healthcare workers increased their compliance with hand hygiene. He made his report after making observations of nurses who had undergone infection control educational program. He suggests that the provision of continuous education and not episodically may have had a great impact on the outcomes.

The application of no covert observation of practice in the study may have an impact on the practice. (Polit et al. However, the fact that the teaching strategy comprised of a distribution of publication and posters and that no actual education or teaching may have contributed to such results. Despite the knowledge of the staff that they were under observation, even though they were not told the reason for the observation, there was no significant improvement in hand hygiene. There is a possibility of making conclusions that teaching and education of nurses and physicians may have a great significant on improving practices concerning infection control because previous demonstrations have shown that increase compliance in hand hygiene and other precautions can greatly lower infection rates.

(Ryan et al. , 2001, Fendler et al. It was unclear if education on its own was effective. Similar to Lam (2004), Larson et al. (1997), after conducting quasi-experimental research, discovered that despite the control of infection practices, multiple intervention improvements such as education had a positive impact on rates of infections. Coinghard et al. (1998), supports the lack of tangible evidence when it comes to the long-term impacts of educational strategy. However, a sample size of 14 is too small thus affecting the external validity of the study. Cheng et al. , specifically surveyed nurses to determine the impacts of an educational program in controlling hospital-acquired infections. His findings were that there was a preference by nurses for a face to continuous face conferences. Bush et al.

Another noted element is that handwashing is suboptimal among healthcare practitioners who are change resistant. Healthcare workers including physicians and nurses should adhere to hand hygiene. The use of alcohol hand wash rinse was found to be the most effective strategy for keeping infections away as compared to soap and other detergents. Effective hand hygiene strategies are that it begins with personal hygiene of every worker n a healthcare organization. Areas beneath an individual’s fingernail are believed to be conducive spots for the growth of bacteria. The CDC recommends that infectious patients be isolated so that they may have fewer or zero chances of infecting others. In a hospital setting, physicians should be able to take note of such patients and then isolate them from the rest.

The strategy has a significant impact when it comes to the decrease of infections among patients in a healthcare setting (precautions, 2018). Environmental Controls: Disinfection and Cleaning Bacteria that cause UTI and other hospital-acquired infections can thrive in an environment for prods of time, hours to days. Cleaning can reduce the bioburden of the microorganisms thus rendering them unharmful (Ward, 2011). Cleaning should always be done before disinfection. Surfaces and items cannot be disinfected f they have not been cleaned first and organic matter removed. Handling disinfectants requires the adherence to the manufacturer’s instructions to avoid complications (precautions, 2018). Conclusion and Discussion Discussion of Findings The findings from the study may not be strong enough to back the idea of education of healthcare practitioners in reducing hospital-acquired urinary tract infection.

Few researchers have investigated to address the precise question of the relevance of education in the prevention of nosocomial urinary tract infections. Limitations Methodological problems and limitations in some of the analyzed studies have a significance on their conclusions and may have a problem with effective their validity and reliability. Some of the notable issues were lack of research follow up. Some of the studies were done within a very short time making it difficult to know if the participants under observation changed their behaviors or not. Reliance on a combination of educational interventions in the research process without clearly defining their boundaries makes it difficult to know which the best instructional strategy is when it comes to infection control. Most of the articles addressed general hospital-acquired infections without specializing in urinary tract infection.

The researchers did not provide tangible evidence of educational strategy because of factors such as issues in the collection of data, the methods used in collecting the data such as self-reporting and observations. The above strategies have weaknesses that could contribute to biasness ion research outcomes. Therefore, it is important that future researchers consider other strategies that will minimize such kind of biasness. More research is necessary to address other aspects such as the effectiveness of catheter time for dwelling and notification system for a long time. They should also be able to investigate creative ways in which they can change the behavior of staff so that they can comply with standard hygiene practices. An investigation of existing literature was done by searching nursing databases using relevant keywords.

A total of 13 articles was used for the literature review process. Several considerations were made during isolation and exclusion of articles for research search as data of publishing and the main reason for carrying out that research. Apart from the issue of infection, articles concerning the best educational strategies were also picked to suggest to healthcare organizations the most suitable they could use in their educational programs aimed at infection control. Several articles were discovered, while some talked about infection in general including UTI, others talked directly to the theme of the research which is the impact of an educational program on the control and prevention of nosocomial urinary tract infection. Their suggestion is concurrent with the Center for Disease Control USA that it should be done to prevent the spread of a disease from one person to another.

In a healthcare unit, contact isolation can be done by separating the infectious person from the uninfected to ensure that there are no chances of bacteria crossing over. Environmental contamination has also been suggested as an effective strategy towards the reduction of the spread of infections. Disinfecting healthcare units prevents the breeding of bacteria thus preventing movement of infections. References Apisarnthanarak, A. org/10. 1086/518453 Atack, L. , Luke, R. Impact of an online course on infection control and prevention competencies. Journal of Advanced Nursing 63 (2), 175–180. , Voss, A. , & Kluytmans, J. A European perspective on nosocomial urinary tract infections II. Report on incidence, clinical characteristics and outcome (ESGINI–04 study). Clinical Microbiology And Infection, 7(10), 532-542. gov/hai/ca_uti/uti. html CDC Works 24/7. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Retrieved 23 March 2018, from https://www. cdc. , Krembel, C. , Queverue, M. , Salomez, J. L. , Martin, G. Journal of Hospital Infection 51 (1), 68–72. Cooper, T. Delivering an infection control link nurse programme: improving practice. British Journal of Infection Control 5 (6), 24–27 Davis, D. , O'Brien, M. 867 Dorsey, S. T. , Cydulka, R. K. , Emerman, C. 12927/hcpap. 20924 Lam, B. C. C. , Lee, J. , Blane, C. A multifaceted approach to changing handwashing behavior. American Journal of Infection Control 25 (1), 3–10. N. ,, F. , Al-Ghamdi, A. M. , Al-Arabi, 2004. The effect of a continuous educational program on handwashing compliance among healthcare workers in an intensive care unit. British Journal of Infection Control 5 (3), 15 Parasuraman, R. , Pfister, R. , Touvenoua, S. , Dharan, S. , Posfay-Barbe, K. , Pittet, D. nlm. nih. gov/books/NBK214342/ Satterlee, W. , Eggers, R. , & Grimes, D. edu/etd/309 Tenke, P.

, Kovacs, B. , Bjerklund Johansen, T. , Matsumoto, T. , Tambyah, P. , & Mermel, L. Potential Economic Impact of Hospital-Acquired Infections in Uninsured Patients: A Preliminary Investigation. Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology, 29(08), 764-766. http://dx. doi. , Zack, J. , Cox, M. , Cohen, M. , & Fraser, V. An educational intervention to prevent catheter-associated bloodstream infections in a nonteaching, community medical center*. S. , Chen, C. Y. , Huang, S. M. Guideline for prevention of catheter associated urinmy tract infections. Retrieved November 2, 2007 from http://www. cdc. gov/ncidod/dhqp/gl_catheter_assoc. html Table of Results Authors Sample and Design Setting Findings Comments Attack & Luke (2008) Canada Sample of 76 participants including nurses 4 hospitals Significance improvement in perception after education Small sample size affecting generisability Dorsey et al (1996) US Observation before and after study Emergency department The was no significance compliance in handwashing after education Staff were informed of the observational intervention and could have affected outcome Colombo et al (2002) Zurich Post and pre-intervention study Surgical and medical wards Education can facilitate compliance to hand hygiene Compliance tool may be inaccurate leading to inappropriate results Lam et al (2004) Covert observation post-intervention for four weeks after education then four weeks after warning label us NICU Improvments in hadwashing led to significant drop of infections Multiple interventions making it diffiuclt to identify the significance of each Larson et al (1997) USA Post and pre-intervention observational study for 301 hours Tertiary healthcare center minimal long-term effects associated with intervention including education, feedback and facility amendments within 60 days after the intervention Several interventions making it difficult to estimate the impact of education Panhorta et al (2004) Saudi Arabia Prospective, observation ICU Education intervention improved handwashing among nurses but not doctors Unlike other studies, education was continuous.