Quality Improvement Proposal Essay

Preventive measures to stop the spread of the infections is lacking tremendously in the work and aim to provide safety for all patient’s health. The work conveyed to you is an effort to lower the expansion of the infections talked about above that bring chaos in a patient’s healing process. The main priorities that will help patients’ health and better their outcomes when it comes to their medical needs are detecting causes of the infections, resolutions as well as quality improvement steps. This second paragraph will discuss infections received from hospitals. Infections that patients with weaker immune systems/who are sick tend to get as was stated earlier are TB (Tuberculosis), VRE (Vancomycin-resistant enterococcus), VAP (Ventilator Associated Pneumonia), C-diff (Clostridium difficile), UTI (Urinary Tract Infection), and MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus). VRE is described as an inherited altered stretch of enterococcus that was first created in humans who were exposed to an antibiotic called vancomycin (Hedman, 2010). VRE cannot have an effect on people whose health is in good condition, but can be deadly to those whose immune systems are weakened. VRE is dispersed through indirect and direct contact. VAP is a contamination of one’s lungs that they picked up from a hospital visit or stay. (A. D. A. M. , 2011). In a typical healthy person, pneumonia is generally not deadly. Pneumonia received from a hospital can be deadly to a person with a weakened immune system, newborn, or the elderly, as it gets germs from the ventilation. C-diff is spore-foaming bacteria that are picked up through cells in feces that are tough to kill (Hedman, 2010). A person can receive C-dff also by consuming too many antibiotics. Spores in feces can expand onto the hands of people who have come into contact with another patient who has C-diff. C-diff spores can stay alive for several months and can be found in unclean places, for example floors and bedpans (Hedman, 2010). UTI is received through perineal care of patients, where there was not a proper procedure of cleaning methods. UTI is bladder inflammation and creates a burning feeling mostly when urinating (Hedman, 2010). Catheters can also cause UTI’s if not taken care of properly are by being kept in too long. Lastly MRSA is an antibiotic-resistant infection that a lot of times is contracted from people that are hospitalized in other medical facilities for example, long-term care facilities (Hedman, Fuzy, & Rymer, 2010). It can also be transmitted by close physical contact with another person who has it or by touching something that that infected individual has touched. This paragraph discusses some causes of infections contracted through a hospital. A huge cause of infections is improper sanitary actions and attire among patients. A prerequisite for hospital workers when they go into a patients room that has a contaminated person in it is to put on personal protective equipment for example, gloves, gown, goggles and a mask depending on how serious the patients infected illness is. There are health workers that think proper procedure is not necessary and that they cannot contract the infection through their work clothes or through them since they are healthy (Melissa, CNA instructor, personal communication, 2012). What they do not consider is the transferring of germs from patient to patient through staff transfer. Unfortunately they do not take into consideration the transfer of germs from one patient to another then to a health worker. Among reviewing CNAs at a long-term care facility, it was seen that some CNA’s did not take off their gloves between giving perineal care of a patient after the patient used the bathroom and the CNA reached for the patient’s attire to put on the patient for that day. The CNA put every patient at risk of contracting the infection and the patients clothes could have became a source of C-diff. There are many cases similar to the one above where health workers are in a rush and do not perform their job/skills that they have been taught correctly. Health workers being in a rush also is due to shortage of staff. The CNAs at the long term facility discussed in this paragraph work a 9:1 ratio, which causes challenges for the health workers to give quality care to the patients. This paragraph explains ways to prevent infections contracted from hospitals. The number one way to lower the spread of infections contracted through a hospital is correct sanitation customs. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), a federal government agency has come up with guidelines in order to safeguard against the expansion of infections and diseases for patients and the workers (Hedman, 2010). It is mandatory for administrators of hospitals to write a disclosure policy to protect the workers from infections like Hepatitis B and other infections and bad bacteria. Minimizing infections that the workers have can aid in stopping the spread of nosomical infections. The World Health Organization (WHO) explains that â€Å"prevention of nosomical infections requires an integrated, monitored, programme† (Ducel, Fabry & Nicole, 2002, p 30). The plan-do-check-act will benefit to minimize the nosomical infections and advance to a patient’s positive result. The following are steps for the pan-do-check-act first off develop a plan to help find the issue, secondly put together a group that will oversee the quality improvement proceedings, thirdly explain the procedure by creating some type of charts, and lastly choosing the correct proceedings to implement quality improvement. Every single one of those steps used will aid in minimizing the infections contracted from hospitals that are plaguing hospital environments (Buchbinder & Shanks, 2007). This program will make sure the correct methods for washing hands, wearing personal equipment to protect, and disinfect properly. The workers need to acknowledge their environment when it poses a risk of transmitting infections. When a staff member soils their clothes with anything like blood or any type of fluid that has threatening pathogens, it is a must to change their attire. (Ducel, 2002). Another main requirement is to clean/sterilize equipment and instruments correctly to rid all pathogens. It is very essential to perform the correct steps and procedures during disinfecting and cleaning hospital rooms after each patient leaves. Ways to help reduce contracting infections from hospitals are by each worker following sanitary procedures as well. Lastly, this paragraph describes stakeholders that will be affected from the implementation of this proposal. Stakeholders that will be influenced by the proposal are the employer, providers, patients, and the payers. As long as osomical infections remain to be an agent in medical facilities then providers jeopardize losing their bonuses, because of the rate of infections received from hospitals being high. The ones who are paying want providers to give quality health care to the patients without anything that causes more needed health care visits, and tests (Patient safety, 2005); the infections contracted from hospitals are placed under the scope of quality medical care and require a higher payout. The one the patient works for loses management time while the patient is not there. The one who is mainly affected from this proposal is the patient. Not only does the patient have to pay for their time at the hospital but also have to worry about an unwanted infection. From this proposal the patient will gain a better outcome, have less of a financial burden, and better health. The ones who pay and their provider will maintain their agreement of quality improved health care. The employer of the patient as well will retrieve normal production, because of their worker returning quickly. In conclusion, contracting infections from hospitals can be deadly to newborns, the elderly, and ones with weakened immune systems. One thing that will lower nosomical infections are health care staff taking the proper steps of sanitation. Another main source of giving patients a positive result is the plan-do-check-act plan of quality improvement. Most patients give trust to their medical providers. With that said it is feasible that a patient should be able to put trust in all his providers to see that he recovers fast with contracting no other infections.