Clinical update
Infection control SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY
Essential facts One in 16 people – 300,000 patients a year – who are treated in the NHS in England pick up an infection. These healthcare associated infections (HCAIs) include pneumonia and infections of the lower respiratory tract, urinary tract, and surgical sites.
What’s new Nurses and other healthcare staff must redouble hygiene efforts to bring down ‘unacceptable and avoidable’ infection rates, according to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). NICE presents six actions to bring down infection rates, including a standard to tackle the growing threat of antibiotic resistance. Antibiotics should not be offered to patients for self-limiting mild infections such as colds and most coughs, sinusitis, earache and sore throats.
Signs/symptoms Symptoms vary according to the type of infection affecting the patient. Symptoms of a lower UTI include cloudy urine, the need to urinate more often, pain and blood in the urine. Symptoms of pneumonia include fever, breathing difficulty, sweating, shivering and pain.
Public Health England says people are more at risk of HCAIs if they have an illness that makes them susceptible to infection, such as diabetes or cancer, or are receiving medical treatments that suppress the immune system, such as chemotherapy. Medical interventions and devices such as catheters
Expert comment Carol Pellowe is a senior lecturer at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, London
NICE clinical guidance on healthcare–associated infections (2012) publications.nice.org.uk/ infection-cg139 NICE quality standard for infection prevention and control (2014) guidance.nice.org.uk/QS61
can give microorganisms a chance to enter the body. Antibiotics, which harm the body’s normal gut flora, can also increase risk, particularly in older people. Long hospital stays increase the prospect of patients acquiring infections. Hospitals are high-risk environments due to the widespread use of antibiotics and the grouping together of patients, which provides an opportunity for microorganisms to spread.
How you can help your patient
Causes/risk factors
Find out more
Be rigorous about hand hygiene. The new quality standard from NICE says that patients should be looked after by healthcare workers who always clean their hands thoroughly, both immediately before and immediately after, contact or care. Minimise the risk of infection to people who need a urinary catheter or a vascular access device by following procedures to make sure the devices are inserted, looked after and removed correctly and safely.
‘There have been huge improvements in infection control in the NHS, but there is still more that can be done. One patient with an HCAI is one too many. It can be difficult to make infection prevention a priority when wards are busy and staff overstretched. The main standards for nurses are about ensuring that hands are washed before and after
Articles from RCN Publishing: Causes, prevention and treatment of Escherichia coli infections. Nursing Standard (2010). rcnpublishing. com/doi/abs/10.7748/ ns2010.04.24.31.50.c7692 Prevention and control of Clostridium difficile infection. Nursing Older People (2010). rcnpublishing. com/doi/abs/10.7748/ nop2010.04.22.3.29.c7633 Prevention of indwelling catheter-associated urinary tract infections. Nursing Older People (2011) rcnpublishing. com/doi/abs/10.7748/ nop2011.03.23.2.14.c8351
each patient contact, and ensuring the correct use of devices, such as urinary catheters. While many trusts take appropriate device insertion seriously, some hospitals still do not know when or for how long a catheter has been in situ. As soon as any indwelling device is used for a patient, there should be a plan for when it will be removed.’
20 may 21 :: vol 28 no 38 :: 2014 NURSING STANDARD Downloaded from RCNi.com by ${individualUser.displayName} on Nov 26, 2015. For personal use only. No other uses without permission. Copyright © 2015 RCNi Ltd. All rights reserved.
Infection control SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY
Essential facts One in 16 people – 300,000 patients a year – who are treated in the NHS in England pick up an infection. These healthcare associated infections (HCAIs) include pneumonia and infections of the lower respiratory tract, urinary tract, and surgical sites.
What’s new Nurses and other healthcare staff must redouble hygiene efforts to bring down ‘unacceptable and avoidable’ infection rates, according to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). NICE presents six actions to bring down infection rates, including a standard to tackle the growing threat of antibiotic resistance. Antibiotics should not be offered to patients for self-limiting mild infections such as colds and most coughs, sinusitis, earache and sore throats.
Signs/symptoms Symptoms vary according to the type of infection affecting the patient. Symptoms of a lower UTI include cloudy urine, the need to urinate more often, pain and blood in the urine. Symptoms of pneumonia include fever, breathing difficulty, sweating, shivering and pain.
Public Health England says people are more at risk of HCAIs if they have an illness that makes them susceptible to infection, such as diabetes or cancer, or are receiving medical treatments that suppress the immune system, such as chemotherapy. Medical interventions and devices such as catheters
Expert comment Carol Pellowe is a senior lecturer at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, London
NICE clinical guidance on healthcare–associated infections (2012) publications.nice.org.uk/ infection-cg139 NICE quality standard for infection prevention and control (2014) guidance.nice.org.uk/QS61
can give microorganisms a chance to enter the body. Antibiotics, which harm the body’s normal gut flora, can also increase risk, particularly in older people. Long hospital stays increase the prospect of patients acquiring infections. Hospitals are high-risk environments due to the widespread use of antibiotics and the grouping together of patients, which provides an opportunity for microorganisms to spread.
How you can help your patient
Causes/risk factors
Find out more
Be rigorous about hand hygiene. The new quality standard from NICE says that patients should be looked after by healthcare workers who always clean their hands thoroughly, both immediately before and immediately after, contact or care. Minimise the risk of infection to people who need a urinary catheter or a vascular access device by following procedures to make sure the devices are inserted, looked after and removed correctly and safely.
‘There have been huge improvements in infection control in the NHS, but there is still more that can be done. One patient with an HCAI is one too many. It can be difficult to make infection prevention a priority when wards are busy and staff overstretched. The main standards for nurses are about ensuring that hands are washed before and after
Articles from RCN Publishing: Causes, prevention and treatment of Escherichia coli infections. Nursing Standard (2010). rcnpublishing. com/doi/abs/10.7748/ ns2010.04.24.31.50.c7692 Prevention and control of Clostridium difficile infection. Nursing Older People (2010). rcnpublishing. com/doi/abs/10.7748/ nop2010.04.22.3.29.c7633 Prevention of indwelling catheter-associated urinary tract infections. Nursing Older People (2011) rcnpublishing. com/doi/abs/10.7748/ nop2011.03.23.2.14.c8351
each patient contact, and ensuring the correct use of devices, such as urinary catheters. While many trusts take appropriate device insertion seriously, some hospitals still do not know when or for how long a catheter has been in situ. As soon as any indwelling device is used for a patient, there should be a plan for when it will be removed.’
20 may 21 :: vol 28 no 38 :: 2014 NURSING STANDARD Downloaded from RCNi.com by ${individualUser.displayName} on Nov 26, 2015. For personal use only. No other uses without permission. Copyright © 2015 RCNi Ltd. All rights reserved.
