Health Care Associated Infections

So, what is the definition of health care associated infections? They are infections that patients acquire while being hospitalized to receive treatment for their conditions either medical or surgical. Many of the HCAIs are preventable. In the modern healthcare, there are many types of invasive procedures that is used to treat patients to help them recover, also some devices are used, and all can be a potential risk for transmitting an infection to the patient while receiving the treatment. Instruments used during surgery can be a source of Infection, catheters are a source of urinary tract infections, and ventilators are a source of respiratory tract infections. HCAIs can occur in different health care settings such as hospitals, Dialysis

Department of Health and Human Services established an objective for Healthy People 2020 to prevent HCAIs, this reflects that the U.S. health care system is committed to and serious about solving this issue. These objectives address two extremely important topics, central line-associated bloodstream infections, and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections. Also, there are other major causes of HCAIs that Health and Human Services is working on their prevention such as urinary tract infections (UTIs) associated with catheters, infections of surgical wounds and sites, C. difficile infections, and ventilator-associated Pneumonia. Researches done on HCAIs shown that we can prevent many of these infections by implementing effective strategies to eradicate it, adapting some advanced prevention tools, and following new prevention approaches. There should be a more focus on HCAIs prevention in acute care settings. Lots of health care services, including certain procedures, are now performed in an outpatient setting, such as ambulatory surgical centers, which increases the risk of acquiring an infection, as the outpatient setting usually have a much less oversight and infection control compared to a hospital

A coordinated plan should be followed by health care facilities which are located in the same region especially when they fight against antibiotic-resistant organisms and C. difficile. First, we will discuss Central line-associated bloodstream infections. A central line is a catheter that is placed in one of the major veins in the body, usually in the neck (internal jugular vein), or in the groin (femoral vein). Through it, blood can be collected, medications & fluids can be given. It gives an access to a much larger vein than a regular IV catheter do, it also remains in place for long periods of time (weeks to months) than regular IV catheters, that’s why the central line is much more likely to cause serious infection especially in patients admitted to intensive care