![]() The responsibilities of this committee are to generate, implement, and maintain policies related to infection control. The last aspect of a functioning infection control program is the infection control committee, which consists of an interprofessional group of clinicians, nurses, administrators, epidemiologist, infection preventionists and other representatives from the laboratory, pharmacy, operating rooms, and central services. Hospitals can have multiple infection preventionists depending on the number of beds available, mix of patients, and the Center for Disease Contol and Prevention (CDC) recommendations. A registered nurse with a background in clinical practice, epidemiology, and basic microbiology typically hold the infection preventionist title. A physician with a subspecialty in infectious disease usually holds the position. The epidemiologist generally oversees the infection prevention program and in some cases the quality improvement program. The hospital epidemiologist is required to interface with many of the hospital departments and administrators to discuss their responsibilities, expectations, and available resources. Hospitals need to attain hospital epidemiologists, infection preventionists, and an infection control committee to organize a well-structured and implemented infection control program. ![]() This can be achieved by implementing infection control programs in the forms of surveillance, isolation, outbreak management, environmental hygiene, employee health, education, and infections prevention policies and management. ![]() The role of infection control is to prevent and reduce the risk for hospital-acquired infections. This new era in healthcare epidemiology is characterized by consumer demands for more transparency and accountability, increasing scrutiny and regulation, and expectations for rapid reductions in HAIs rates. These events included the Institute of Medicine’s 1999 report on errors in health care, the 2002 Chicago Tribune representation on HAIs, and the 2004/2006 publications of the significant reductions in bloodstream infection rate through the standardization of central venous catheter insertion process. It was not until the late 19th and early 20th century when the new era in infection control was started through three pivotal events. However, most of the infection control programs were organized and managed by large academic centers rather than public health agencies which lead to sporadic efficiency and suboptimal outcomes. The primary purpose of infection control programs was to focus on the surveillance for HAIs and in-cooperate the basic understandings of epidemiology to elucidate risk factors for HAIs. By the late 1950s and 1960s, a small number of hospitals began to recognize healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) and implemented some of the infection control concepts. Infection control as a formal entity was established in the early 1950s in the United States. While much of the content remains relevant, users should be aware that the information has not been updated.Infection control refers to the policy and procedures implemented to control and minimize the dissemination of infections in hospitals and other healthcare settings with the main purpose of reducing infection rates. Some items included on these pages (such as Joint Commission monographs) were developed several years ago. By accessing and using website resources, website users agree to make no claim of any kind against The Joint Commission for any and all damages that result from use or implementation of any website content. Approaches utilized by organizations spotlighted in this website are not inclusive of all organizational approaches that may be successful in addressing infection prevention and control, and strategies may need to be tailored by organizations to meet the unique needs of their setting and patient population. Many of these resources were not developed or validated by The Joint Commission. Nor does it offer any endorsement of the source nor of any particular product, health care organization, or service, nor should it be construed as a statement that the source, health care organization, or its products or services, are superior to those of other source or company. ![]() This website is not intended to serve as an exhaustive or exclusive repository of publicly available resources related to infection prevention and control.
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