Quality Improvement Initiatives and Clinical Prevention Interventions
Identify a clinical prevention intervention to promote health and wellness for a population with which you are familiar. Have these clinical prevention interventions been successful? Why or why not?
Handwashing is a clinical infection prevention strategy that began in the 19th century and has evolved over the years with other hand hygiene practices to reduce the pathogens that cause hospital-acquired infections (HAIs). Among hospitalized patients, the contaminated hands of healthcare staff are the main source of spreading pathogens. Handwashing is a hygiene practice that reduces the proliferation of pathogenic microorganisms to decrease the risk of HAIs, reimbursement, the costs of care, and duration of hospital stay (Toney-Butler, Gasner & Carver, 2020). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) acknowledges handwashing as the most significant practice in preventing the transmission of nosocomial infections in clinical settings. Handwashing involves washing hands using soap and water when the hands are contaminated with body fluids, blood, is visibly soiled, after using the restroom and before eating.Quality Improvement Initiatives and Clinical Prevention Interventions
Toney-Butler, Gasner & Carver (2020) refer to the guidelines provided by the World Health Organization (WHO) highlighting the five moments that healthcare providers should observe hand hygiene as follows;
