Introduction: Hospital healthcare is linked with the specific risk of healthcare-associated infections; healthcare workers are therefore required to carry out activities and measures that will prevent such infections. Health professionals' pathogen-contaminated hands are an ideal medium for transfering microorganisms from one patient's skin to the skin or mucous membranes of another patient as well as their surroundings. Hand hygiene is regarded as hand washing and disinfecting, surgical hand scrubing and disinfecting, use of gloves, implementation of non-touch techniques and hand care. Purpose: The purpose of the diploma thesis is to present the standards for the implementation of hand washing and disinfection in the selected hospitals in Slovenia and compare them with each other. Methods of work: We used the descriptive method. We included professional and scientific literature from the COBISS.SI, ScienceDirect, CINAH, PubMed and Medline databases. Literature ranging from 2008 to 2018 is used in the research. All literature has been critically examined with certain assumptions taken into account - that the article content relates to the maintenance of hand hygiene and that the article relates to hospitals. Results: We compared the standards of three Slovenian hospitals - Topolšica Hospital, University Medical Centre Ljubljana and General Hospital Celje. We compared them according to the aforementioned standard measures for the infection prevention, which include the concept of hand hygiene, when it is necessary to hygienically wash/disinfect hands, a description of the technique of hand washing / disinfecting and an overview of the minimum technical conditions necessary for proper hand hygiene. Discussion: Standard measures to prevent infections include maintaining hygiene, using personal protective equipment in addition to cleaning and disinfecting the patient's surroundings. Hands should be hygienically washed /disinfected according to the general rules of personal hygiene, after social contacts, when visibly soiled with organic material and before arriving and leaving the workplace. The hand washing /disinfecting technique requires that all jewelry needs to be removed, followed by washing the entire surface of the hands, rinsing and drying using disposable paper towels. Minimum technical conditions include running water, soap, a sink, disposable paper towels, disinfectant and a waste bin. Conclusion: Maintainig hygiene at work is important in healthcare. Despite the recommendations, commitments and research we find that hand washing and disinfecting in health facilities is not performed effectively. There is a high incidence of hospital-acquired infections. Preventing these infections brings challenges into healthcare that will need to be addressed in the future.
|
