Professional Goal
My professional goal was to apply safety and infection control by utilizing proper hand hygiene to prevent the risk of infection to patients, properly using sterile techniques to prevent hospital-acquired infections, and using PPE when I have a patient in standard precaution to protect myself and others around me to a minimum of 3 patients by week 1.
To accomplish my duty, I devised a routine of sterilizing my hands, the equipment to use, and the work area where the patient stays to avoid transferring bacteria from the surface to the patient, especially if they have an open wound. Apart from the information I already have on caring for patients, I also complemented the details with additional information acquired through research. Discovering new methods of avoiding infections from medical journals was what I used the most. With so much online information on the different ways of caring for patients to avoid infections, I had to choose medical journals, which are written mainly by certified healthcare providers. The hospitals and healthcare centers around my home offered training on how to avoid hospital-acquired infections, which I attended too. To evaluate my skills, I would log in details of the patients I had anti-infection procedures and check on them to know if the procedure was successful.
Strengths and Weaknesses
The different ways I used to increase my skills in controlling the spread of infections had their strengths and weaknesses. In the strengths, I learned what I had to do and what I should never do when disinfecting a surface, instruments, or a patient to avoid hospital-acquired infections. The information was clear, and most of the strategies were effective in avoiding hospital-acquired infections. The weakness was that I needed to remember to attend to the existing infections and how to avoid making the infection worse by exposing the patient to bacteria in the hospital.
Critical Thinking using NANDA and ADPIE
The patient was a 40-year-old female diagnosed with vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) and admitted to the hospital. The medical history of the patient showed extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-producing bacterial infection. The assessment included physical examination performance, and the patient recorded pains during urination and frequent urination, besides showing bloodstream infection. Fever, chills, low blood pressure, rapid heartbeat, and ultimate confusion accompanied that.
The interventions for the patient included infection control measures, as the infection can be transmitted from one patient to another. The control measures included hand hygiene, environmental cleaning, and isolation precautions. Wound care was another intervention involving wound cleaning, debridement, and dressing variations.
Reflections
The experience of the weak was rewarding, although it had various challenges. I was able to learn the importance of applying safety and infection control by utilizing proper hand hygiene to prevent the risk of infection to patients, proper usage of a sterile technique aimed at preventing hospital-acquired infections, and using PPE when I have a patient in standard precaution, thus protecting myself and other patients. I also learned the importance of a comprehensive approach to patients, as this helps prevent the spread of infections to other patients.
Improvement plan
To improve my weaknesses, I must learn appropriate prevention measures and effective treatment strategies if an infection is to be managed and patient outcomes improved. Reading the book “Infection Prevention and Control at a Glance” by Debbie Weston, Alison Burgess, and Sue Roberts would be a good idea, as the book covers a wide range of infection control and prevention, with an inclusion of the use of personal protective equipment, sterile techniques, and hand hygiene. Information on the principles of infection has also been covered in the book, besides discussing strategies for managing infection outbreaks and the epidemiology of infections.
References
Weston, D., Burgess, A., & Roberts, S. (2016). Infection prevention and control at a glance. John Wiley & Sons.
Andersen, B. M. (2019). Prevention and control of infections in hospitals (pp. 167-178). Springer International Publishing.
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