“More people now die each year of hospital acquired infections than of AIDS, traffic accidents, and the flu combined,” (Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics and Policy, 2014). Many people believe that healthcare facilities are regularly disinfected, that surfaces and equipment are always sterilized, and that the staff is demanded by law to use hygienic methods all the time, but that may not be the case. The majority of the time, healthcare-associated infections are transmitted from patient to patient through the hands of healthcare workers. It depends on the staff and their sanitary practices to prevent these pathogens from spreading throughout the Nursing Homes. Healthcare workers should be forced to follow specific infection control guidelines
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When the health care workers are not aware of the procedures they need to undergo in order to comply with safety procedures for the patients, they will be more likely to transmit the virus to patients and staff. According to an article published by Alp, E. and Damani, N. (2015), “In low-to-middle income countries (LMICs), the numbers of healthcare workers are usually low; moreover, training of these personnel is often inadequate.” The same article proposes that hospitals hire an Infection Control Team (ICT) who is specialized on this area to supervise the patients when it states, “It is recommended that a fully functioning and effectively communicating IPC team, including at least one full-time specifically trained infection control nurse with a ratio of 1:250 to 1:100 beds depending on the intensity and type of healthcare facility, an infection control doctor, and a professional skilled in data management is instituted at every healthcare facility.” However, hiring infection control personnel will not eradicate the whole problem since the level of education of the hospitals’ staff is not related to their hygienic practices. What is the point of hiring all this unnecessary personnel if the staff who take care of patients do not wash their hands and do not clean the medical equipment? Well, the answer is nothing because the viruses are going to continue spreading and patients will continue to die. An example of this the article posted by Medscape Medical News (2015), “The Bellevue Clinic and Surgery Center of Seattle Children’s Hospital notified some 10, 000 patients this summer that they could be at risk of infection because of improperly cleaned surgical instruments going back to 2010.” The best option is to force the healthcare staff to comply with infection control guidelines despite their level of education or their job
When the health care workers are not aware of the procedures they need to undergo in order to comply with safety procedures for the patients, they will be more likely to transmit the virus to patients and staff. According to an article published by Alp, E. and Damani, N. (2015), “In low-to-middle income countries (LMICs), the numbers of healthcare workers are usually low; moreover, training of these personnel is often inadequate.” The same article proposes that hospitals hire an Infection Control Team (ICT) who is specialized on this area to supervise the patients when it states, “It is recommended that a fully functioning and effectively communicating IPC team, including at least one full-time specifically trained infection control nurse with a ratio of 1:250 to 1:100 beds depending on the intensity and type of healthcare facility, an infection control doctor, and a professional skilled in data management is instituted at every healthcare facility.” However, hiring infection control personnel will not eradicate the whole problem since the level of education of the hospitals’ staff is not related to their hygienic practices. What is the point of hiring all this unnecessary personnel if the staff who take care of patients do not wash their hands and do not clean the medical equipment? Well, the answer is nothing because the viruses are going to continue spreading and patients will continue to die. An example of this the article posted by Medscape Medical News (2015), “The Bellevue Clinic and Surgery Center of Seattle Children’s Hospital notified some 10, 000 patients this summer that they could be at risk of infection because of improperly cleaned surgical instruments going back to 2010.” The best option is to force the healthcare staff to comply with infection control guidelines despite their level of education or their job