The prevention of Hospital Acquired infection (HAI)

The prevention of Hospital Acquired infection (HAI)

The prevention of Hospital Acquired infection (HAI) is essential in determining the quality of care dispensed to patients. HAI prevention reduces the cost of treatment for patients as it prevents any escalation that could lead to the possible deterioration of a patient’s health. Poor hygienic conditions within a healthcare facility exposes patients to possible infections. Great care needs to be taken to ensure that hygiene is maintained around the Catheter. The use of chlorhexidine gluconate wipes is one method that healthcare employs to prevent infection for CAUTI patients. This discussion critically appraises chlorhexidine gluconate (CHG)bathing in the prevention of CAUTI. It also evaluates its efficacy compared to the use of water bathing around the catheter insertion point.

PICO statement: “For a patient in Acute Critical Care, how effectively do Chlorhexidine gluconate baths applied to the patient skin twice daily versus no Chlorhexidine gluconate, compare with washing around catheter twice daily with water with regards to reducing the rate of Hospital Acquired Infections?”

Assessing the sustainability of daily chlorhexidine bathing in the intensive care unit of a Veteran’s Hospital by examining nurses’ perspectives and experiences

The use of CHG bathing is effective in reducing the infection and colonization of multidrug-resistant microorganisms for patients in the ICU. The study uses qualitative analysis to determine the effectiveness of chlorhexidine gluconate baths. It involves the use of interview on a multidisciplinary team composed of nurse managers (4), registered nurses (9) and healthcare technicians(13) all assigned to work at the ICU. The interviews gave qualitative insight on CHG effectiveness. Semi-Structured interviews were used to collect the relevant data used in evaluating the outcome of the study. The setting of the study is in the ICU wing of a Veteran’s Hospital with 129 ICU beds in Wisconsin, USA. The study examines potential barriers influencing the successful adoption of CHG baths for HAI prevention on patients in the ICU. The barriers included workloads and scheduling. The Dedoose software got used in facilitating the coding and management in the research.

The outcome of the study showed that CHG baths play an enormous role in reducing the rate of Hospital-acquired infections. The use resulted in the reduction of HAI occurrence drastically; nurses in the study expressed that the method resulted in better outcomes, even when facing the challenge of big workloads. The relationship of the study to my PICO statement is that it measures the efficacy of CHG. It also shows how CHG reduces Hospital-acquired infection when compared to scenarios where CHG baths were not used. The evidence to support the study is in the 29 interviews where cases of HAI readmission were avoided as opposed to in the past where the readmission case was higher. The strength of the study is that it compares the use of chlorhexidine gluconate against the use of normal sterilization method of clean water baths. The outcome of the study clearly outlines the difference between the two methods. The study falls under the level C of ACNN hierarchy as it gives a qualitative measure of the efficacy of CHG baths

The efficacy of daily chlorhexidine bathing for preventing healthcare-associated infections in adult intensive care units

The research study aims at assessing whether the daily use of CHG bathing can reduce the rates of Hospital-acquired infection rates on adults in intensive care units. It is vital to note that HAIs in seriously ill patients might lead to prolonged hospital stays. They also increase the medical cost incurred for patient care dispensation. Then study systematically reviews credible researches from Pub Med EMBASE and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials were studied systematically up to December 2014 to filter out the most relevant studies for the study’s review. Fifteen studies got selected; they included three randomized control trials and 12 quasi-experimental studies.

The outcome of the study showed daily CHG bathing led to a significant reduction in primary outcome rates; Catheter-related bloodstream infections (CLABSI) had a risk ratio of 0.44 with a 95% confidence interval. Catheter-associated urinary tract infection recorded a risk ratio of 0.68 with a 95% confidence interval, while ventilator-associated Pneumonia had a risk ratio of 0.73 with a 95% confidence interval. The study relates to my PICO statement in that it establishes the efficacy of CHG baths by systematically reviewing the outcomes of CHG use in the prevention of HAI in 15 studies. The level of evidence for the study is level C based on the AACNN hierarchy; the study involved a systematic review of studies undertaken before the end of December 2014. The strength of the study is the fact that it included the use of two authors to filter out the studies to use in the review independently. The move ensured that the selected researchers were thoroughly evaluated to determine their suitability in the study undertaking. Credible databases were also used to increase the accuracy of the study. The Gap in the study is that the study only used 15researchers. More research studies should get introduced to get a well-designed study.