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INTRODUCTION

Another name for nosocomial infection is healthcare-associated infections or healthcare-acquired infections. Nosocomial infection can be defined as infections acquired by a patient during treatment in a health setting or healthcare facility that was not present when admitted into the healthcare. The infection can occur when the patient is receiving healthcare services or after discharge(Khan et al., 2017a). It has been reported that among every 100 patients admitted, 7 out of the 100 acquires nosocomial infection in developed countries( Xiong et al., 2021; Khan et al., 2017a). However, in developing countries, 10 patients out of every 100 patients acquire nosocomial infection. According to a World Health Organization report, it states that about 15% of all hospitalized patients are affected by nosocomial infections(Haque et al., 2018Khan et al., 2017a). In South-East Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, 4-56% of death of newborns are associated with nosocomial infection with an incident rate of 75%. In rich nations, the incidence of newborn death is about 3.5- 12% (USA 3.5 AND European countries 6.5%) (Sikora and Zahra, 2021). Whereas in middle and low-income countries is about 5.7-19.1% (Sikora and Zahra, 2021).

The major risk factor associated with this infection is inadequate hygiene in healthcare facilities and their staff. Invasive devices like catheters, ventilators used in hospitals are associated with nosocomial infection(Khan et al., 2017a). This infection is very rampant in some hospital units such as Intensive Care Units, Burn units, surgical units, and children’s hospitals (Khan et al., 2017a). Another serious risk factor for the spread of hospital-associated infections is inadequate staff personal hygiene such as regular hand washing. For example, in Northern Ethiopia, in a study on Prevalence and knowledge of personal hand hygiene in a health setting, Edgar et al. reported the level of hand hygiene compliance among healthcare workers was very poor. The resultant effect of poor compliance of the health care workers resulted in unavailability of adequate soap and water, unavailability of alcohol-based hand sanitizers, decreased knowledge on hand hygiene, and perhaps their poor attitude towards health delivery and service (Engdaw et al., 2019). Other risk factors and determinants include poor hygienic hospital environment and inadequate waste disposal, immunocompromised individuals, prolonged stay in the hospital, and carelessness/unawareness (due to poor knowledge of using infection prevention and control measures, and inappropriate use of devices in the hospital) (Xiong et al., 2021).

Nosocomial infections can come in various types, namely central line-associated bloodstream infections, catheter-associated urinary tract infections, surgical site infections, and ventilator-associated pneumonia infections. However, the problem with nosocomial infection is that as the rate of the infection increases, the increase in duration individual stays in the hospital (Khan et al., 2017b). It also leads to other challenges such as impairment and disability, the burden to public health, higher antimicrobial resistance, economic instability, increased morbidity and mortality rates( Desta et al., 2018; Khan et al., 2017a).

The pathogens for the spread of the virus include bacteria, viruses, and fungal parasites.  Bacteria is a well-known of all the pathogens for healthcare-associated infections (Khan et al., 2017a). Some can be found in the patient’s flora and progress to the infective stage, and when the patient’s immune system is no longer active, the patient acquires or becomes infected, examples include Methicillin-resistant S. aureus. viruses are also known as one of the causes (Khan et al., 2017a). The report shows that it has about 5% nosocomial infection (Khan et al., 2017a). Their mode of transmission is through hand to mouth, respiratory route, and fecal to oral route (Khan et al., 2017a). An example is a SARS-COV-2 virus. The final pathogen is the fungal parasites They act as opportunistic pathogens resulting in nosocomial infections in immunocompromised persons. An example is the Aspergillus species that are responsible to cause infection in contaminated environments. It is also important to know that infections can be transmitted from healthcare workers to patients and vice versa, hence the need for extra caution in the hospital (Khan et al., 2017a). Therefore, this present study is going to investigate the various impact of inadequate hygiene on nosocomial infections in healthcare settings.

AIM

• To determine the impact of inadequate hygiene on nosocomial infections in healthcare settings

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES

• To determine the impact of improper hand hygiene on nosocomial infections in healthcare settings
• To determine the impact of improper environmental hygiene on nosocomial infections in healthcare settings
• To determine the impact of improper equipment and material hygiene on nosocomial infections in healthcare settings
• To understand the impact of lack of basic infrastructure (handwashing sinks, toilets, poor building structure) on nosocomial infections in healthcare settings.

RESEARCH PROBLEM

It has been reported that among every 100 patients admitted, 7 out of the 100 acquires nosocomial infection in developed countries( Xiong et al., 2021; Khan et al., 2017a). However, in developing countries, 10 patients out of every 100 patients acquire nosocomial infection. According to a World Health Organization report, it states that about 15% of all hospitalized patients are affected by nosocomial infections(Haque et al., 2018Khan et al., 2017a). Therefore, it is important to investigate the role inadequate hygiene play in propagating this public health menace.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

• What is the impact of improper hand hygiene on nosocomial infections in healthcare settings?
• What is the impact of improper environmental hygiene on nosocomial infections in healthcare settings?
• What are the impacts of improper equipment and material hygiene on nosocomial infections in healthcare settings?
• How does lack of basic infrastructure (handwashing sinks, toilets, poor building structure) affect nosocomial infections in healthcare settings?

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

It is already known that the major risk factor associated with this infection is inadequate hygiene in healthcare facilities and their staff. Invasive devices like catheters, ventilators used in hospitals are associated with nosocomial infection(Khan et al., 2017a). According to the study Engdaw et al. observed that the resultant effect of poor compliance of the health care workers resulted in unavailability of adequate soap and water, unavailability of alcohol-based hand sanitizers decreased knowledge on hand hygiene, and perhaps their poor attitude towards health delivery and service (Engdaw et al., 2019). Therefore, this present study will look at different inadequacies in hygiene practice to determine how they impact nosocomial infections in health settings.

METHODOLOGY

• Study Design: This study will review current literature to determine the effect of stress on cardiovascular diseases. In the search for this literature, keywords such as “Nosocomial infection”, “Healthcare-associated infections”, “Hygiene practice”, “Improper Hygiene”, “Healthcare Settings”, and other related terms will be utilized. Databases such as Pubmed/ Medline, Google Scholar, Cochrane library, will also be used to source data Also, Inclusion and exclusion criteria will be used in selecting relevant literature for this study.

ANALYSIS

The following will be used for analysis in this review, they are; cluster analysis (CA) and/or factor analysis (FA), and/or principal component analysis (PCA). The results will be presented as odds ratios (OR).

RISK ASSESSMENT

The risk assessment conducted for this project is provided in the table below:

Table 1:  Risk assessment

SCHEDULE

    Table 2: Project Plan

REFERENCES

Desta, M., Ayenew, T., Sitotaw, N., Tegegne, N., Dires, M., & Getie, M. (2018). Knowledge, practice and associated factors of infection prevention among healthcare workers in Debre Markos referral hospital, Northwest Ethiopia. BMC Health Services Research, 18(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-018-3277-5

Engdaw, G. T., Gebrehiwot, M., & Andualem, Z. (2019). Hand hygiene compliance and associated factors among health care providers in Central Gondar zone public primary hospitals, Northwest Ethiopia. Antimicrobial Resistance and Infection Control, 8(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13756-019-0634-z

Haque, M., Sartelli, M., McKimm, J., & Bakar, M. A. (2018). Healthcare-associated infections – An overview. In Infection and Drug Resistance (Vol. 11, pp. 2321–2333). Dove Medical Press Ltd. https://doi.org/10.2147/IDR.S177247

Khan, H. A., Baig, F. K., & Mehboob, R. (2017a). Nosocomial infections: Epidemiology, prevention, control, and surveillance. In Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Biomedicine (Vol. 7, Issue 5, pp. 478–482). Hainan Medical University. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apjtb.2017.01.019

Khan, H. A., Baig, F. K., & Mehboob, R. (2017b). Nosocomial infections: Epidemiology, prevention, control, and surveillance. Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Biomedicine, 7(5), 478–482. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.APJTB.2017.01.019

Sikora, A. and Zahra, F. (2021) Nosocomial Infections) . In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2022 Jan-. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.

Xiong, L., Sheng, G., Fan, Z.-M., Yang, H., Hwang, F.-J., & Zhu, B.-W. (2021). Environmental Design Strategies to Decrease the Risk of Nosocomial Infection in Medical Buildings Using a Hybrid MCDM Model. Journal of Healthcare Engineering, 2021, 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1155/2021/5534607

Last updated: Jan 21, 2022 04:57 PM