Infection Control

Infection Control in Hospitals

Every year, millions of people acquire a health care-associated infection, which means they get sick and sometimes even die because of the spread of infections in hospitals. There are many ways health care workers can prevent infections from spreading in the hospital. Proper hand washing is the simplest, most important way to prevent infections, not only in the hospital, but everywhere else as well. Although proper hand washing is very important, there are many other just as important steps and protocols a health worker should follow to prevent infections.

Today in the health work place, not only do the health care workers work hard to control infection, but they emphasis on preventing infections before they occur. There are many infection prevention control teams that set guidelines and recommendations that health care workers need to follow in order to prevent infections. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), The Joint Commission risk management, and hospital administration place a huge emphasis on infection prevention and control. Infection preventionists and other members of the infection prevention and control team work within the hospital with the infection prevention and control committee. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, provides facilities and services for investigation, prevention, and control of disease.

There are Standard Precautions that all health care worker must follow to prevent and control infections in the hospital. Hand washing is the most important and considered the cornerstone of successful infection control programs. Health care workers need to follow certain steps while washing their hands that a normal person probably wouldn’t, for example, they need to use at least two pumps of soap, rinse with hands facing down, scrub soap for 30 seconds, rinse with hands facing down again, and repeat scrubbing soap...