The provision of quality healthcare is the sole purpose of any health organization. However, this duty widely includes assurance of patient and staff safety in the process and protection against any infections within or without the hospital. Enhancement of patient and staff safety creates an enormous trust towards a facility while contributing to the quality of health care. It is prudent for every medical facility to implement different risk management measures to curb the spread of infection and enhance the delivery of safe healthcare services.
The creation of awareness and education both to the medical staff and patients is necessary to curb the spread of the infection within and outside the facility. Physicians should be fully educated on how the infection spreads; its signs and symptoms and prevention measures. Physicians will in turn educate their patients on how to protect themselves and their loved ones from the infection (Septimus, Weinstein, Perl, & Goldmann, 2014). The creation of awareness and dissemination of resourceful information is a cost-effective way of reducing the spread of infection and often more effective than costly methods. The realization of imminent danger and the possibility of exposure by both staff and patients will compel them to adhere to provided prevention measures.
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Hospital entry points should be limited to only one to control hospital traffic and limit the spread of the infection. Hospital traffic increases the chances of the disease spreading faster especially if it spreads through air or body contact. A healthcare facility must limit entry points to only one for easy monitoring and control to avoid crowding of patients and risking the safety of both the patients and physicians (Calfee, Salgado, Milstone, & Harris, 2014). Control of entry points should be complemented with social distancing amongst the patients to avoid body contact or proximity to enable the spread of air-borne diseases (Calfee, Salgado, Milstone, & Harris, 2014). Additionally, hospital staff should work out a plan to limit patient waiting time to ensure that the waiting period doesn’t exceed 20 minutes before being attended to. This will contribute to the satisfaction of the patients while avoiding patients’ crowd which might put them at risk. This measure is costly but it is resourceful in the end as it ensures patients are served within the shortest time possible especially at the diagnosis stage to avoid crowding (Calfee, Salgado, Milstone, & Harris, 2014). Crowding not only risks patients’ safety but it is the most contributor to patients’ dissatisfaction and poor healthcare quality.
There is a need to seek feedback from both the patients and staff regarding infection control procedures already in place. Seeking feedback will allow both the staff and patients to air their views regarding the quality of healthcare and the competence of infection control mechanisms deployed (Zingg, et al., 2015). This survey will cover issues like the hospital’s hygiene, the competence of staff, attitude of the patients towards the facility’s quality of health care, and suggestions on how to better hospital’s response to curb the spread of infections and improve its provision of safe healthcare services. The survey will enable the health organization to identify the loopholes and work towards sealing them. People outside the hospital’s management are better in identifying these loopholes, especially the patients since they are the hospital’s customers and they are in a good position to provide an unbiased opinion on the quality of healthcare (Zingg, et al., 2015). They are also well-positioned to identify gaps in the hospital’s response to prevent the spread the infections and whether they feel safe or at risk when in the facility.
The safety of patients within the hospital is of great necessity. It behooves the healthcare organization to roll out a holistic training of both patients and staff regarding infection and ways to prevent themselves. Control of hospital traffic is also vital to avoid crowds which increases the chances of infections and risks the safety of the patients. The last measure is to do frequent surveys that involve both the patients and staff to identify loopholes within the hospital. These loopholes can be within the hygiene measures, hospital traffic, or even the quality of healthcare. Conducting surveys provides reliable data that will inform the hospital’s decisions in combating the spread of infections while improving the quality of healthcare.
Responses
Shahnoza Boltaeva
Customer experience is imperative and your approach to enhancing the delivery of quality healthcare services from a patient point of view is impeccable. I agree with you that outing patients’ needs above everyone else, create some sense of value to the patients. This culture enables staff to pay more attention to the patients’ needs whilst enhancing that they provide top-notch service to the patients. Additionally, seeking feedback from your patients consistently contributes to the quality of care since an organization can determine loopholes in its quest to deliver quality healthcare services.
Bridget Willis
Surgical Site Infection (SSI) is the most contributor to healthcare-associated infections. I concur with you that these infections extend patients’ stay in hospital whilst escalating the cost of care for the patient. The use of drapes has proofed helpful in reducing the rate of SSI within the facility; both iodine-drapes and adhesive drapes are effective. The study in Australia regarding the blood pressure cuffs is a clear indication of infections within the hospital from patient to patient. This study points out why hospitals should be on the lookout to always protect their patients against any healthcare-associated infections while enhancing the quality of care.
Amy Tolentino
The implementation of all standard protocols from CDC and HICPAC in your facility in addition to extra protocols is imperative to your protection of patients and the provision of quality healthcare services. It is important to pay close attention to hygiene both on the staff and patients’ side; the use of gel in-gel out policy is really necessary to protect the spread of any infection from patient to patient or patient to staff. The use of an isolation protocol for infections falling under these categories; microorganisms with antibiotic resistance and Extended-Spectrum Beta-Lactamase (ESBL) secreting organisms), microorganisms with high transmission and 3 microorganisms with high virulence (e.g. severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Ebola virus disease (EVD)) is thoughtful since it protects other patients and curbs the spread of the infections further.
References
Calfee, D. P., Salgado, C. D., Milstone, A. M., & Harris, A. D. (2014). Strategies to Prevent Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Transmission and Infection in Acute Care Hospitals: 2014 Update. Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology, 35 (7), 772-796.
Septimus, E., Weinstein, R. A., Perl, T. M., & Goldmann, D. A. (2014). Approaches for Preventing Healthcare-Associated Infections: Go Long or Go Wide? Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology, 35 (2), 797-801.
Zingg, W., Holmes, A., Dettenkofer, M., Goetting, T., Secci, F., & Clack, L. (2015). Hospital organisation, management, and structure for prevention of health-care-associated infection: a systematic review and expert consensus. The Lancet Infectious Diseases, 15 (2), 212-224.
