Hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) affect many inpatients in hospitals across the US. HAIs are caused by bacterial, fungal, and viral pathogens that are mostly spread within the healthcare setting. Examples of HAI’s are urinary tract infections (UTIs), catheter-associated UTIs, Bloodstream infections (BPIs), surgical site infections among others (Al-Tawfiq & Tambyah, 2014).Research Critiques and PICOT Statement Essay Paper.
These infections contribute significantly to disease burden and mortality. HAIs can be managed using hygienic interventions such as handwashing using soap and running water or alcohol-based sanitizers. However, more research still needs to be done, in order to develop more robust interventions for curbing HAIs. In this paper, we develop a PICOT question that guides our analysis of various research articles on HAIS as well as their significance in nursing practice.Research Critiques and PICOT Statement Essay Paper.
PICOT Question
For this study, we developed the following appropriate PICOT question.
In acute care inpatients (P), does hand hygiene (I) compared to no intervention (C) reduce the rate of hospital-acquired infections (O) within 6 months (T)?
Our focus is on acute care patients admitted to hospitals. Inpatients are at higher risk of developing HAI’s due to the longer periods that they spend in hospital. Hand washing is the most basic hygienic strategy that can reduce the transfer of pathogens causing HAIs. Although there are other interventions such as proper ventilation and regular disinfection of surfaces, we decided to stick with hand washing since it is the most basic. Our goal is to find out whether hand washing would reduce the rate of HAIs qt the hospital within 6 months.Research Critiques and PICOT Statement Essay Paper.
Research Critiques
To identify the best evidence, it is important to critique the research studies to see if they are useful and produce sufficient quality to be applied in practice (LoBiondo-Wood & Wood, 2014). For this study, we investigated two qualitative articles (Herbeć et al., 2020; Staniford & Schmidtke, 2020) and two quantitative articles (Haverstick et al., 2017; Nekkab et al., 2017). The articles were selected based on how they align with the PICOT question.Research Critiques and PICOT Statement Essay Paper.
Both qualitative studies focused on how hygiene practices including handwashing can help to reduce the rate of infections among children. Herbeć et al. (2020) focused the attention of their study on neonates while Staniford and Schmidtke (2020), investigated the importance of handwashing on children as a general group. Herbec and colleagues (2020), conducted their study in a low-income setting (Zimbabwe) and hence purposed to show how alternative and cheaper means of hygienic can be applied by doctors and patients in the hospitals to reduce HAIs among neonates. The study by Herbeć et al. Research Critiques and PICOT Statement Essay Paper.(2020) was based on interviews and ethnographic observations to get the desired results. Staniford and Schmidtke (2020), sought to explore previous publications on behavior change interventions designed to increase hand hygiene and environmental disinfecting. Both studies were significant in that they showed that hand hygiene is crucial in reducing the incidences of HAIs in healthcare settings.Research Critiques and PICOT Statement Essay Paper.
Furthermore, we investigated two quantitative studies. The study by Haverstick et al. (2017) was based on the question, whether hand washing reduces HAIs in healthcare environments. Haverstick et al. (2017) identify hand hygiene as an important practice for preventing HAI. However, Haverstick and his colleagues focused on handwashing among medical personnel. Medical personnel may transmit pathogens from one patient to the other given that they handle multiple cases. Yet, Nekkab et al. Research Critiques and PICOT Statement Essay Paper.(2017) note that multi-drug resistant organisms have become a concern in the health care industry owing to the difficulty in eliminating the organisms once an infection occurs. The presence of these organisms creates concerns about HAI with the potential for epidemic spread. Research Critiques and PICOT Statement Essay Paper.Also, it notes that this is not a concern for a single hospital facility and is in fact a concern for whole networks since it is not uncommon for patients to be transferred between medical facilities. Hence, Nekkab et al. (2017) et al investigated how HAIs can be transferred from one healthcare f
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