Infection Control and Hand Hygiene Literature review

Infection Control and Hand Hygiene - Literature review Example Firstly the nursing staff should be aware of the proper procedure and principles of hand hygiene. They should know the correct technique to follow it. Secondly they should have the will to follow it. They should feel morally responsible for the patients and value their life. Lastly a great deal of effort has to come from the hospital to educate the staff and supply them with proper supplies related to hand hygiene. Secondary Research This is a qualitative research on the topic infection control and hand hygiene. The purpose of the research is to discuss various issues to help understand what infection control and hand hygiene is and how the two are related. The research will look to cover range of theories and articles in order to elucidate what is being discussed. For the research, following key terms and phrases were identified: Hand hygiene nursing Hand hygiene practice Hand hygiene and infection control Hand hygiene and WHO Ways to motivate hand hygiene in hospitals hand hygiene and infection prevention Maintaining hand hygiene in hospitals Infection control and hand hygiene statistics Lack of hand hygiene in hospitals Hand hygiene compliance Hand hygiene and infection control books The above keywords and phrases were researched in different academic databases like PubMed to find suitable articles and study. A large chunk of research was done from nursing books online from reputable authors and editors. Newspaper and online articles of only trusted sources like BBC and the guardian have been included for the research. Keywords Phrases E-Books and Newspapers online Book/article Selected PubMed Articles Selected GOOGLE Database Articles Selected A Hand hygiene nursing 993 1 2,200,000 3 B Hand hygiene practice 45,500 2 1,171 2 14,400,000Â   3 C Hand hygiene and infection control 12,100 1 3,234 1 D Hand hygiene and WHO 745 1 10,700,000 2 E Ways to motivate hand hygiene in hospitals 934 2 F hand hygiene and infection prevention 27,900 1 2,483 2 6,020,000 2 G Ma intaining hand hygiene in hospitals 1,680,000 1 H Infection control and hand hygiene statistics 2,240,000 2 I Lack of hand hygiene in hospitals 1,950 1 1,420,000 3 J Hand hygiene compliance 851 4 1,550,000 2 K Hand hygiene and infection control books 1,540 4 Definition of infection control Infection control looks to prevent those who might be in danger of acquiring deadly diseases and infections. Infections could come from the community as well as from the nursing staff in case a person is already admitted to a hospital. Infections develop due to poor hygiene and the most basic aim of infection control is to counter the environment that allows unhygienic practices (WHO, 2013). Glasper and Richardson, in their book Children’s and young people’s nursing explain that for infection to occur there must be a host, a germ or bacteria that could be transferred and finally a transmitter. If any of these three things are not present then it is not possible to transmit infection (Glasper & Richardson, 2007). Nizam Damani in his book ‘infection prevention and control’ explains the two most basic ways of catching infections in hospitals. Transmission of infection comes from direct and indirect contact made to the patient.