The equipment management strategies that have been described entail decontaminating and sterilizing the equipment through chemical and physical means by inactivating and removing pathogens to a point where they become incapable of transmitting infection. In fact, the management renders the equipment safe for use and handling. Strict adherence to the strategies is considered critical, and failure to comply with the practices is perceived to have serious consequences in terms of increasing incidence of HAP. The policy is in line with the ethical responsibility and duty of medical personnel to provide competence and safe care while protecting the patients right and being accountable to the relevant professional governing bodies (Cherry & Jacob, 2016). To be more precise, medical personnel have the unique responsibility of being the advocates of the health care system and patients, and this implies using their unique complement of skills, competencies and knowledge to ensure that medical equipment is safe for use and opportunities for HAP are minimized. With the availability of a wider range of more complex medical equipment and an increasing focus on how the equipment can be sterilized for reuse and cost saving, it becomes incumbent upon medical personnel to perform their due diligence and practice ethically by ensuring that they do not intentionally expose patients to harm. Through following the protocols for disinfecting and sterilizing medical equipment, medical personnel actively ensure that they proactively reduce opportunities for HAP (Cherry & Jacob, 2016).
Kadivar et al. (2017) adds to the discussion by explaining that medical personnel must adhere to the principle of non-maleficence through ensuring the safety of patients and preventing harm as a priority. From a moral perspective, the use of decontamination and sterilization strategies that ensure that medical equipment are free from pathogens serves two purposes. The first is a practical purpose whereby the benefit is to reduce incidence of HAP. The second is moral value by focusing of protecting human dignity and promoting humanity (Kadivar et al., 2017). Overall, it becomes clear that the protocol is a structured process that fosters safety settings that reduce opportunities for HAP.
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