PICOT Statement Paper

PICOT Statement PaperNameInstitutionInstructorCourseDate PICOT Statement PaperPICOT StatementFor direct care staff in a hospital setting (P), does compliance with hand washing measures (I), as compared to non-compliance with hand washing measures (C), help improve patient safety by decreasing healthcare associated infections (O) during the time of hospitalization (T)?Identification of Clinical Problem/IssueCompliance with hand washing measures is an important aspect in healthcare by improving patient safety for patients admitted in healthcare facilities. This decreases healthcare associated infections, which contribute to poor patient outcomes (Chavali, Menon, & Shukla, 2014). Most of the germs and microorganisms in a healthcare facility are transmitted to different patients if proper caution is not taken. Non-compliance with hand washing measures increases the risk of patients being infected by disease-causing germs as healthcare staff attend to different patients who are admitted in the healthcare facilities (Chavali, Menon, & Shukla, 2014). The main reason for patient admission is to improve the health status of patients which nay be negatively affected by non-compliance with hand washing measures. Evidence-Based SolutionIt is important for healthcare staff to comply with hand washing measures due to the benefit of this aspect in improving patient outcomes (Zhao et al., 2018). This is also beneficial in preventing the negative effects associated with non-compliance with hand washing measures, which are increased healthcare infections negatively affecting patient outcomes (Zhao et al., 2018). Non-compliance with hand washing measures also increases the costs of healthcare provision. One of the solutions to improve compliance with hand washing measures involves promoting hand washing among healthcare staff through different strategies, which may include increasing hand-washing campaigns (Sadule-Rios & Aguilera, 2017). These campaigns will help healthcare practitioners to understand the benefits of hand hygiene in their profession. Helping healthcare staff to understand the relationship between hand hygiene and patient outcomes is the most important process in enabling them to comply with hand washing measures (Sadule-Rios & Aguilera, 2017). Nursing InterventionThere are different measures, which can be implemented by nurses in improving compliance with hand washing measures, which include having a collaborating approach between the nurses and the healthcare administrators (Iqbal, Zaman, & Azam, 2018). This will enable the two parties to share different ideas on the most effective strategies to ensure that this is effective (Iqbal, Zaman, & Azam, 2018). Sharing evidence-based research on the relationship between hand hygiene and patient outcomes may help in more healthcare practitioners complying with these measures (Longuenesse et al., 2017). Due to the roles which nurses play in caring for admitted patients, it is important for them to understand the importance of complying with hand washing measures as these impacts patient outcomes (Longuenesse et al., 2017). Patient CarePatient care involves providing patient-centered care, which is aimed at benefiting the patients in their stay in healthcare facilities (Sickbert-Bennett et al 2016). This is important as it impacts the patient’s health status which makes it important for healthcare practitioners to uphold patient values which are meant to ensure that patient’s needs are addressed and the patient does not suffer from any negative effects associated with the healthcare process (Sickbert-Bennett et al 2016). Hand washing has been indicated as one of the most effective ways of preventing the spread of disease-causing germs, which may produce negative results in addressing patient’s healthcare needs (Lawal et al., 2018). Non-compliance with hand washing measures negatively affects patient care by affecting patient safety through increased healthcare associated infections during the time of hospitalization (Lawal et al., 2018). This makes it important for healthcare practitioners to comply with hand washing measures in order to achieve the benefits associated with this aspect. Health Care AgencyHealthcare agencies have a big role to play in ensuring that healthcare practitioners comply with hand washing measures since they provide some of the important resources required by healthcare practitioners in performing their duties (Bittner et al 2017). Healthcare agencies can implement different strategies to encourage healthcare practitioners in complying with hand washing measures. Healthcare agencies can provide some of the important hand washing resources to the healthcare workers, which include adequate water, soap, and alcohol-based agents (Bittner et al 2017). This can be placed in different locations with posters written all over to remind nurses on the importance of hand hygiene.Nursing PracticeThe nursing profession is important due to its impact on patient care as nurses play a huge role in taking care of admitted patients. This makes nurses to impact patient outcomes in different aspects (Oliveira & Pinto, 2018). This healthcare issue may benefit nurses to improve patient outcomes if they comply with hand washing measures. This will enable nurses in preventing the risk of infection in healthcare facilities (Oliveira & Pinto, 2018). Complying with hand washing measures in the nursing practice has been indicated to contribute to about 30% improvement in healthcare-associated infections. This will also reduce healthcare costs, which are attributed to managing the new acquired healthcare infections as well as improve patient outcomes (Oliveira & Pinto, 2018). ReferencesBittner, M. J., Routh, J. M., Folchert, M. D., Woessner, N. E., Kennedy, S. J., & Parks, C. C. (2017). Hand hygiene among health care workers: Is educating patients and families a feasible way to increase rates? WMJ: Official Publication of the State Medical Society of Wisconsin, 116(2), 79–83.Chavali, S., Menon, V., & Shukla, U. (2014). Hand hygiene compliance among healthcare workers in an accredited tertiary care hospital. Indian journal of Critical Care Medicine: Peer-Reviewed, Official Publication of Indian Society of Critical Care Medicine, 18(10), 689-693.Iqbal, M., Zaman, M., & Azam, N. (2018). Knowledge and perception of hand hygiene among health care workers of a tertiary care military hospital: A descriptive study. Pakistan Armed Forces Medical Journal, 68(5), 1372–1377.Lawal, T., Monsudi, K., Zubayr, B., Michael, G., Duru, C., Ibrahim, Z., &Aliyu, I. (2018). Hand hygiene practices among nurses in a health facility in a semi-urban setting. International Journal of Health & Allied Sciences, 7(3), 191–195.Longuenesse, C., Lepelletier, D., Dessomme, B., Le Hir, F., & Bernier, C. (2017). Hand dermatitis: Hand hygiene consequences among healthcare workers. Contact Dermatitis, 77(5), 330–331.Oliveira, A. C., & Pinto, S. A. (2018). Patient participation in hand hygiene among health professionals. RevistaBrasileira De Enfermagem, 71(2), 259–264.Sadule-Rios, N., & Aguilera, G. (2017). Nurses’ perceptions of reasons for persistent low rates in hand hygiene compliance. Intensive & Critical Care Nursing, 42, 17–21.Sickbert-Bennett, E. E., DiBiase, L. M., Willis, T. M. S., Wolak, E. S., Weber, D. J., &Rutala, W. A. (2016). Reduction of healthcare-associated infections by exceeding high compliance with hand hygiene practices. Emerging Infectious Diseases, 22(9), 1628–1630.Zhao, Q., Yang, M. M., Huang, Y.-Y., & Chen, W. (2018). How to make hand hygiene interventions more attractive to nurses: A discrete choice experiment. PLoS ONE, 13(8), 1–11.