Infection control in the medical field is vitally important, it prevents people from getting sick! Did you know that back in the early 1800’s surgeons didn’t even wash their hands before or after surgery? No wonder so many of their patients died shortly after their procedure! And since we’re in the business of saving lives, infection control is most definitely something we should be discussing.
Infection
Most of us are familiar with what an infection is, such as a UTI or pneumonia, but what causes the infection?
Viruses and their variants, bacteria, parasites, and fungi are the main causes of infection. They each work in different ways and can cause different symptoms but each of them can make a patient very sick.
Certain types of infections are very easily transmittable, which is why infection control is so important. Let’s first start with risk factors that can make one more susceptible to infection.
Risk Factors
The most common risk factor for infection to spread is through improper hand hygiene. We were all taught hand hygiene at some point and how important it is to wash your hands, but as time goes on, some people forget how important this step really is. Especially when taking care of sick patients, both for your health and theirs.
Another major risk factor for infection are those with compromised health. Including immunocompromised cancer patients, patients with any type of skin cut/tear/abrasion including an indwelling device, surgical site, wounds, or burns. And patients with chronic health concerns including diabetes with poor circulation. Visit Nursing Fundamentals: A Guide to Wounds, A Guide to Pressure Ulcers, and Nursing Fundamentals: A Guide to Burns, Part 1 and Part 2 for more information.
Lastly, we have those who make poor lifestyle choices. This includes people who drink and/or smoke excessively, those with poor nutritional habits, and those with untreated stress and/or anxiety. It also includes patients who use illicit drugs, specifically those who use IV drugs and share needles, and those who have frequent unprotected sex. Patients experiencing homelessness often fall into this category as they do not have access to proper personal hygiene products and are exposed to other health dangers of being homeless.
Symptoms of Infection
Although it depends on what type of infection the patient has, they often present with similar symptoms. Including but not limited to; redness, warmth, swelling/edema, pain/tenderness, and/or drainage at the infection site, fever and chills, general fatigue, and abdominal pain with cramping often accompanied by nausea and vomiting.
If the infection is bad enough, the patient may also present in distress with an elevated heart and respiratory rate, likely indicating sepsis. See Patient Education: Identifying Sepsis and Understanding its Care and Treatment for more information.
Labs and Diagnostics
Along with the typical symptoms of infection, an infected patient will have an elevated WBC or white blood cell count. They will also likely have an elevated sed rate or erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), with indicates inflammation. Patients with suspected infections often have orders for a culture of the infected area so that the lab can determine exactly with micro-organism is responsible for the infection to help guide the treatment regimen.
If the infection is somewhere less obvious in the body, say in the intestines, other imaging can be done. Such as a MRI, X-ray, CT scan, or a biopsy.
Nursing Care/Treatment
For patients who have an infection, it is best to follow your hospital’s protocol for infection control. For example, all patients should be on standard precautions, but your patient with a scabies infection will also need to be on contact precautions.
See How To Don and Doff PPE for Medical Professionals for more information on PPE precautions and what infection needs what protection.
Along with following the hospital policy, also keep up with doctors’ orders. There may be new orders for cultures and labs so be sure to collect the specimens needed to continue the patient on the right treatment. If an antibiotic is ordered, make sure to give it on time and update the MAR (Medication Administration Record) if it happens to be given off schedule for any reason. Before administering any antibiotic, be sure to visit Nursing Fundamentals: A Guide to the 10 Rights of Medication Administration.
Follow Up
Continue to check in and follow up with your patients. If there are any changes in the patients’ condition, say their temperature spikes again despite having given antibiotics, then the doctor needs to know. If your patient does in fact have scabies, then not only are you going to put them on contact precautions, but you’re also going to need to report this to the Department of Public Health. So be in communication with your charge nurse, case manager, and social worker so it can be reported and documented correctly. And so that your patient won’t be going back to the scabies infested environment where they got their infection in the first place.
Also visit Tips for New Nurses on Calling the Doctor and Nursing Fundamentals: An Intro to Pharmacology for more information.
Patient Education
Lastly, you’re going to want to educate your patient. Learn how they acquired the infection and find a solution on prevention together. Educate your patient on early signs of infection so if this does happen again, they know how to identify it early on to get the best treatment. Re-educate them on the importance of hand hygiene and a healthy lifestyle. Listen to the patient about where they live, what their current infection control looks like, and cater your teaching around that.
After all, patient education is what keeps patients out of the hospital! And that should be everyone’s goal.
Also be sure to check out the rest of the Nursing Fundamentals Series:
I agree that it is important to follow both hospital policy and doctors’ orders for infection control. I imagine that it would be beneficial to have the proper infection-control medical devices available. That way, you can make sure that the infection is handled safely and effectively to prevent spreading.
Absolutely! Thank you for your comment!