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Hospital infection control is crucial to protect patients and staff from nosocomial infections. Policies, procedures, and staff training are essential components, along with proper sterilization, screening, and personal protective equipment. Simple measures like hand washing and vaccinations can also help reduce the spread of disease. Surveillance is necessary to determine the effectiveness of infection control measures.
Hospital infection control is used in healthcare settings to protect patients and workers from the spread of disease and infection. While patients are hospitalized, they are at risk of nosocomial infection. This is not an infection that the patient came in with, but was acquired during his hospital stay. Hospital infection control can help reduce the incidence of this type of infection.
Without good nosocomial infection control, several consequences can ensue. Patients who become ill with a nosocomial infection may have a longer hospital stay. Hospital-acquired infections can become life-threatening. When staff become infected, they can lose their jobs, which can leave the hospital understaffed and can affect patient care.
Developing infection control policies is the first step to an effective hospital infection control plan. Procedures should be developed for proper sterilization and cleaning of patient rooms and equipment. Effective hospital infection control also means screening patients for infectious diseases when they are admitted to hospital. This allows staff to place patients in appropriate isolation rooms if needed. It also warns staff of special precautions that should be taken when caring for an infected patient.
Personal protective equipment should be readily available to staff and visitors to prevent the spread of disease. When necessary, equipment, including gloves and gowns, should be worn to prevent the spread of nosocomial infections. Another essential component of a hospital infection control plan is staff training. Employees of health care facilities should be educated about the different types of infections and how they are transmitted.
Simple things can greatly reduce the spread of disease and contribute to successful hospital infection control. Washing hands after leaving a patient’s room or using an alcohol-based hand sanitizer can reduce the spread of infections. Staff should also use proper technique and clean their hands before patient contact to reduce the likelihood of spreading an infection among patients.
Staff should also be informed and vaccinations offered. This can reduce their chances of developing various infections and passing them on to patients. Vaccines to prevent flu, measles, and whooping cough are vaccines that health care workers can get to reduce the chance of infection.
The last necessary component of hospital infection control is surveillance to determine if policies are being implemented. It also means determining what procedures and policies are working to reduce infection and which ones need to be changed. With a strong infection control plan, patients’ lives can be saved.
