How to write a nursing essay on preventing IV infections

In order to provide high-quality care to patients, patient safety is critical. Adverse outcomes as a result of poor patient care have been identified as one of the leading causes of death and disability worldwide. One of WHO’s key priorities has been to promote patient safety. All patients are given a venous catheter when they are admitted to the hospital so that they can get medications, fluids, blood products, or medical testing rapidly. Nosocomial infections are spread by intravascular devices. According to Flood (2021), Intravenous lines are most common in ICU and services such as hematology and oncology. Healthcare-associated Infections are a major cause of preventable morbidity, mortality, extended hospital stays, and unnecessary costs.

Hospitals should strive to ensure that patient safety is maintained by all health care providers attending to the patient. Services provided should be high quality and cost-effective without patients encountering nosocomial infections. The staff should be empowered to adhere to the measure infection prevention measures. The goal of every healthcare provider should be to ensure that no harm is done to the patients while being provided with care. Professional standards and practices should be followed because they promote patient safety (Khanka, 2017). Care bundles grouping best practices for intravenous devices were introduced, and it has proven successful in reducing nosocomial infections.

Nurses, doctors, and all healthcare providers who come into contact with the patient should collaborate in preventing intravenous infections. Managers should ensure that the staff is involved in all the decision-making processes to prevent infections. Managers should consider their feedback for the effective achievement of goals. Staff members who are actively involved will feel included and will feel motivated to achieve the goals (Flood, 2021). The healthcare providers should understand the factors causing the infections to take measures to curb them. Some of the factors associated with IV infections include; space limitations in the hospital settings, multiple care providers, and lack of handwashing by the care providers.

The IPC program should have a trained, dedicated team for preventing hospital-acquired infections and promoting the best infection control practices to ensure the delivery of quality health care service for patients, staff, and visitors. The team provides advice on managing patients with infections (Weston, 2021). Monitoring and evaluation policies concerning infection control should be reviewed. Regular auditions of the infection prevention practices across the hospitals should be connected regularly to evaluate its effectiveness or changes that should be made. Communication and information regarding the infection control interventions should be passed to the health care workers.

There are two types of venous catheter s: the central line and peripheral intravenous lines. Central line catheters are inserted in the neck, groin, or arm areas. Its purpose is hemodynamic monitoring or withdrawal of blood and infusion. The peripheral is inserted in the peripheral veins of the patients, and they are short. These lines are used to administer medications, fluid, and blood products (Ruiz-Giardin et al., 2019). These catheters are contaminated during instruction, handling, and contaminated hands of the staff, inadequate disinfection of equipment and skin organisms from the patients that travel through the insertion site. However, these infections are preventable, and healthcare providers should ensure that precautions measures are adhered to.

Standard precaution measures reduce the risk of transmission of blood-borne pathogens, and it applies to all patients. These practices include regular hand washing by the care providers before or after attending to a patient and before performing any procedure. Also, disinfection of the site using alcohol-based chlorhexidine before inserting the devices is necessary. This will curb the transmission of infections from one patient to another. They also involve using personal protective equipment such as masks, goggles, face shields, and gowns (Weston, 2021). Safety is not only to the patient but also to the staff. Care bundles, which are evidence-based practices that improve patient outcomes when performed together, have been implemented.

The staff should be trained to enable competence in the insertion of catheter lines. They should have the knowledge and skills to promote the prevention of infections to the patients. Insertion guidelines such as checklists and trainers to oversee procedures should be available. The lines should also be reviewed daily for any signs of infections such as redness, pain, or swelling at the site and prompt removal of unnecessary lines (Ruiz-Giardin et al., 2019). The lines are to be used when it’s only indicated. A multifaceted approach is utilized in the prevention of intravenous infections. These include antimicrobial stewardship programs, infection prevention committee, daily reassessments of interventions bundles, continued staff education programs, identifying and minimizing the risks factors is essential.

Post-operation care refers to care provided to patients after surgery until the patient is discharged, and it continues even up to when the patients are at home. It is aimed at helping the patients return to their normal pre-surgery life. Most patients at Truxtun surgery do not appreciate that coordinated care post-op requires their active participation. Most patients post-op have either a central or a peripheral line depending on their surgery, which is used to administer medications or fluids (Khanka,2017). Health providers should educate these patients on keeping the lines free of microorganisms, such as avoiding manipulating the site and covering it. They should be educated on recognizing signs of infections such as pains, swelling, and redness and reporting them if it occurs.

Standardization procedures and practices must be displayed throughout the hospital facility for easy access by all staff members. This will assist the staff in adhering to the instructions and guidelines to promote patient safety and limit the spread of infections. The checklists for care bundles should be prominently displayed and emphasized to ensure that all team members adhere to the protocols and instructions (Khanka, 2017). The organization’s managers and employees should work together to ensure that patient health objectives are met to the greatest extent possible. Hospital-acquired infections must be avoided at all costs, and this requires the cooperation of all stakeholders.

Intravenous infections are the leading cause of morbidity and mortality among patients in hospital settings. The healthcare burden or costs increase, and the duration of hospitalizations is lengthened. Reduction of these complications can be achieved by minimizing intravenous lines. They should also be removed whenever necessary, and peripheral lines should be used over central lines. Healthcare providers should observe aseptic techniques during insertion and maintenance of the lines. The organization should also arrange regular training of staff members to ensure they are up to date on the current infection prevention measures. It is the sole responsibility of the nurses, doctors, and all other healthcare personnel to ensure that they do not cause addressed effects to the patients.

REFERENCES

Flood, A. (2021). Preventing Central Line Blood Stream Infections in Critical Care Patients. Critical Care Nursing Clinics, 33(4), 419-429.

Khanka, K. (2017). Comparison of Quality Measures for Acute Care Hospitals in Bakersfield (Doctoral dissertation, California State University Bakersfield).

Ruiz-Giardin, J. M., Ochoa Chamorro, I., Velázquez Ríos, L., Jaqueti Aroca, J., García Arata, M. I., SanMartín López, J. V., & Guerrero Santillán, M. (2019). Blood stream infections associated with central and peripheral venous catheters. BMC Infectious Diseases, 19(1), 1-9.

Weston, P. (2019). Prevention of surgical site infections. Prevention, 21(3).

How to write a nursing essay on preventing IV infections

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