Introduction
The continued escalation of healthcare associated infections is a widespread problem in healthcare that results to adverse effects among inpatients as well as the healthcare system. Among the major adverse effects include; increased health expenditures, higher mortality rates and prolonged hospital stay. Thus, a significant number of inpatients are affected by HCAI every year whereby this results to significant financial losses among patients, patient’s family and the healthcare system (Polin et al., 2012). The NICU is one of the most high risk areas for HCAI due to increased vulnerability of the neonates.
Nonetheless, HCAI can be effectively prevented through evidence-based interventions to unsure optimal clinical outcomes especially in the NICU. In the light of this, hand hygiene is one of the most effective evidence-based approach that can be used to reduce cases of HCAI. However, poor adherence to hand hygiene practices among healthcare workers is the main cause of HCAI. As such, the adoption of hand hygiene bundle is an effective approach that can reduce cases of HCAI especially in the NICU (Polin et al., 2012). In regard to this, examining the effectiveness of hand hygiene bundle as compared to routine practice can help to create appropriate strategies to reduce HCAI in the NICU and foster better outcomes among the neonates.
In order to gain a clear understanding of topic, a broad search shall be conducted using various database related to nursing literature. This paper seeks to describe the databases used in conducting a literature review.
# Database 1
Owner or publisher of database: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)
Database description
AHRQ is a government agency that focuses on enhancing the quality as well as safety of healthcare by providing the relevant information on preventive services, evidence-based practice, medical effectiveness, outcomes research, clinical guidelines and new technologies in healthcare. In addition, the agency provides continuing education, evidence based tools as well as products to healthcare professionals on the best care practices to improve care delivery. As such, healthcare professionals can access the database and obtain the relevant information on preventive services, evidence-based practice and best care practices.
How the source relates to the topic
Thus, National Guideline Clearinghouse is an appropriate database that is quite relevant to the topic since it provides best care information, reports and journal articles on various health issues. Particularly, the source provides relevant information on best-care practices that can be used to enhance care safety as well as safety and reduce HCAI in care settings.
# Database 2
Owner or publisher of database: The Joanna Briggs Institute
Database description
JBI is a non-profit organization that focuses on research and development aimed at providing evidence-based information to healthcare professionals to enable them to provide effective, appropriate and meaningful healthcare in order to globally enhance the health outcomes of patients. In relation to this, subscribers can obtain best care information as well as evidence-based care information from the website and use the information to improve care delivery.
How the source relates to the topic
JBI is an appropriate source of information that provides relevant information on the topic since it provides evidence-based information that relates to the topic in form of journal articles, reports as well as systemic reviews. More importantly, the source provides relevant clinical information that can be used to minimize HCAI in hospitals and improve the overall health outcomes of patients.
# Database 3
Owner or publisher of database: The Honor Society of Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau International
Database description
Henderson repository focuses on collecting, preserving and disseminating information materials relating to nursing research as well as evidence based practice. As such, nurses voluntarily submit their evidence-based practice as well as research-related information materials that is evaluated and disseminated. Among the materials provided include; study reports, committee reports journal articles and conference papers. Thus, healthcare professionals can access the materials for free and obtain the relevant information that can be used to enhance care delivery.
How the source relates to the topic
This is an appropriate source that provides valuable information since it provides valuable information that relates to the topic such as evidence-based practices and research-related materials. For instance, the source provides research-related materials on best care practices that can be used in improving hand hygiene in order to reduce incidences of HCAI particularly in the NICU. Furthermore, the source provides journal articles and study reports on effective strategies for enhancing hand hygiene.
# Database 4
Owner or publisher of database: The Johns Hopkins medicine (JHM)
Database description:
JHM is an organization that focuses on conducting intensive research to develop research based interventions to improve care quality and safety. The organization unites various health professionals drawn from affiliate facilities and organizations to develop appropriate strategies that can be used to enhance care delivery and foster better patient outcomes. Moreover, the organization conduct research to come up with suitable intervention approaches to prevent, treat as well as diagnose various health complications and enhance community health.
How the source relates to the topic
This is a suitable source since it provides credible and valuable information that relates to hand hygiene. In relation to this, the source provides relevant information on the best care practices pertaining hand hygiene that can be used to effectively reduce cases of HCAI. Building on the information provided, healthcare workers can come up with suitable approaches that can be integrated into care practice to reduce cases of healthcare associated infection in NICU.
# Database 5
Owner or publisher of database: EBSCO Health
Database description
EBSCO Health is an organization that provides evidence-based information on various issues in healthcare in order to enable healthcare providers to come up with appropriate solutions to problems encountered in care delivery. In relation to this, the organization provides appropriate information pertaining to various health issues in form of peer-reviewed as well as journal articles. Leadership and the editorial faculty of the organization comprises of nurses, physicians and other allied professionals in the health sector. Thus, the information provided is credible and reliable since it is collected, evaluated and disseminated by competent clinicians with vast knowledge on various health issues.
How the source relates to the topic
EBSCO Health is a suitable source of information since it evidence-based and relevant information that relates to the topic. In this regard, the source provides various intervention strategies for improving hand hygiene during care practice and other strategies to reduce the rate of HCAI. Thus, the information provided can help healthcare workers to create evidence-based interventions to minimize cases of HCAI particularly in the NICU.
Overall the aforementioned databases provide credible, relevant and valuable information that can help healthcare professionals especially nurses to create suitable intervention strategies to enhance care quality and safety. In addition, the sources offer evidence-based information on the various methods that can be used in improving hand hygiene particularly in the NICU and foster better clinical outcomes among the neonates. More importantly, the sources offer credible and reliable information since they are published or owned by competent healthcare professionals who are well knowledgeable on health issues and have conducted intensive research on various issues pertaining to healthcare. Therefore, the databases shall enable proper understanding of the topic and help in developing suitable strategies that can be integrated into care practice to reduce the rate of healthcare associated infections.
References
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. (2016). National Guideline Clearinghouse | Home. Retrieved from http://www.guideline.gov/
EBSCO health. (2016). Retrieved from https://health.ebsco.com/
Polin, R. A., Denson, S., Brady, M. T., Papile, L. A., Baley, J. E., Carlo, W. A., & Byington, C. L. (2012). Epidemiology and diagnosis of health care–associated infections in the NICU. Pediatrics, 129(4), e1104-e1109.
The Honor Society of Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau International. (2016). Virginia Henderson Global Nursing e-Repository. Retrieved from http://www.nursinglibrary.org/vhl/
The Joanna Briggs Institute. (2016). JBI | Welcome. Retrieved from http://joannabriggs.org/
The Johns Hopkins medicine. (2016). Retrieved from www.hopkinsmedicine.org/
