The essential component of infectious safety is preventing the possibility of transmitting microorganisms from the patient to the medical staff and vice versa. Contagious diseases of medical staff associated with professional activity occupy a specific place in the structure of infectious morbidity. Infected hands play a significant role in the transmission of contagious diseases. Proper and timely treatment of the hands of medical personnel is one of the leading measures in the fight against infectious diseases and guarantees the safety of staff and patients. Knowledge and compliance with the rules of handwashing by medical personnel reduce the number of infections associated with the hospital.
In order to prevent the spread of nosocomial infections, as well as to reduce the number of conditions at the hands of medical personnel, it is necessary to follow specific recommendations. The first recommendation will be the treatment of hands at the household level. The purpose of this handwashing technique is to remove most of the transient microflora from the skin. This type of handwashing is used in several cases, such as feeding the patient, before and after caring for them, when hands are dirty, and so on.
The effectiveness of handwashing by medical personnel has been proven by many studies and in various areas of hospital distribution. Thus, Ahmed et al. (2020) revealed that 45.75% of the surveyed members of the medical staff had never attended lectures on infectious safety and hand hygiene. Regular hand washing is necessary to prevent the spread of infection on the territory of medical institutions and to prevent diseases from leading to various possible complications in patients.
The second recommendation includes hand hygiene after invasive manipulations, which contact patients’ biological fluids, such as blood, saliva, etc. To do this, it is necessary not only to wash hands with soap and water thoroughly but also to treat hands with a skin antiseptic with ethyl alcohol and chlorhexidine. This type of treatment will eliminate the infection of some patients through the biological secretions of other patients and will also reduce the spread of diseases among medical personnel.
Patients entering medical institutions become vulnerable to the spread of various kinds of infections, including from the untreated hands of medical personnel who carry out multiple manipulations. Gomarverdi et al. (2019) claim that Healthcare-Associated Infections lead to 99,000 deaths annually. This statistic is frightening because if the medical staff and patients were aware of handwashing more carefully, it would probably be possible to avoid such several deaths.
In conclusion, hand washing is one of the most acute problems within medical institutions. Many medical personnel neglects to wash and treat their hands, leading to the spread of nosocomial infection and sometimes death. To prevent accidents, it is necessary to observe the cleanliness of hands carefully, as well as to conduct regular lectures for medical personnel and patients on the need to keep hand hygiene and antiseptic treatment. Through these recommendations, it will be possible to stop the spread of nosocomial infections among medical staff and patients.
References
Ahmed, J., Malik, F., Memon, Z. A., Bin Arif, T., Ali, A., Nasim, S., Ahmad, J., & Khan, M. A. (2020). Compliance and knowledge of healthcare workers regarding hand hygiene and use of disinfectants: A study based in Karachi. Cureus, 12(2), e7036.
Gomarverdi, S., Khatiban, M., Bikmoradi, A., & Soltanian, A. R. (2019). Effects of a multi-component educational intervention on nurses’ knowledge and adherence to standard precautions in intensive care units. Journal of Infection Prevention, 20(2), 83-90.