Patient Assessment and Management Essay Assignment paper

Patient Assessment and Management Essay Assignment paper

Patient Assessment and Management Essay Assignment paper

Healthcare associated infections are infections that are acquired in hospital or any other healthcare setting. Healthcare associated infections (HAI’s) have an enormous effect on patient recovery and are estimated to cost NHS Scotland £180 million per year (The Scottish Government 2007). Infection control is based on common sense and on safe practice and can be implemented at a minimal cost. A large part of the hospital population are older adults and the increase in age play a huge part of the risk factor for infection (Gould and Brooker 2008). The risk of infection is particularly high where contact with healthcare staff and equipment occurs often and other patients may act as a source of infection (Wilson 2006). It is the intention of this essay to explain the importance of infection control in practice and the pathway of this will follow the five-step model of risk assessment (Health and Safety Executive 2006), which includes looking for the hazards, identifying who may be harmed and how, evaluating the risk, recording the findings and reflecting the importance of infection control.Patient Assessment and Management

The first step of the risk assessment model is to look for hazards and identify how infection control might spread within this environment. Many infections occur due to poor infection control within the hospital ward. Micro-organisms which are on and around a patient are inadvertently transferred to a vulnerable site on the same or another patient. Patients receiving healthcare are at increased risk of acquiring infection due to invasive procedures, devices or conditions that impair normal defences against infection. In addition, the healthcare environment provides plenty of opportunities for micro-organisms to transfer between patients and for antimicrobial resistant strains to emerge and spread (Wilson 2006). “An infection can develop if the links in the chain of infection are not interrupted” (Kozier 2008 p.225). The chain of infection being the causative agent, reservoir, portal of exit, mode of transmission, portal of entry and susceptible host. There are four main categories of micro-organisms, these being bacteria, viral, fungal and protozoa.

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