In St. Francisca hospital, the issue of hygiene and cleanliness within and around the hospital’s wards is a factor that needs to be considered. In this case, there are health risks which are associated with the hygiene of the hospital.
The wards are not regularly cleaned. This leads to unhealthy environment in the wards. Nursing becomes an issue as patients would always seize more time to recover. This is because of infection and re-infection with communicable diseases such as common cold, Tuberculosis, among others (Joan, 2010).
The bedding in the wards is not cleaned often. In some cases patients are given clothing and bedding which had been used by other patients. This poses great risk to both the patients and the nursing staff. This condition can generate a series of infections whereby a patient can be infected with a new disease in the hospital wards apart from the sickness which he or she was already suffering from. In the case of sharing or using unclean bedding, such infections as skin infections are common among patients. Whenever patients use unclean bedding, they would come back to the hospital later with skin infections (Joan, 2010).
Poor hygiene has also caused diarrhea among patients. Hospital cabins where patients keep their stuff are always dirty exposing the patients to high risks of infections. Stomach infections are common among patients being taken care of in improperly cleaned wards. The water used by both patients and the entire hospital is not safe for drinking. This leads to cases of stomach upsets and other difficulties. Patient use untreated water and the wards are rarely cleaned, and when cleaned, contaminated water is used. This water is obtained from the drainage system of the hospital. This is occasioned by the shortage of water in the facility forcing the workers to recycle water. The issue of recycled water leads to poor health conditions in the hospital.
Patients in the hospital share items such as utensils, toilet papers among others. These pose a lot of risks as control of contagious disease becomes so hard to be attained. The hospital management has failed to offer enough of these facilities to ensure that there is no sharing of items. Disease control and quick recovery of patients is not enhanced (Paul, 2007).
The shortage of items in the hospital has compelled the patients and care takers to resort to bringing items from the nearby hotels and other sources of food stuffs. This increases the risks associated with sharing of utensils since most of the food and utensils sourced from outside the hospital do not have guaranteed health conditions. Food and items from outside the hospital increases the health risks associated with hygiene since such sources are not closely monitored and managed (Joan, 2010).
There is shortage of sanitary equipment within the hospital. Such equipment as gloves and disinfectants are not readily supplied to the hospital. This forces the nurses and other individuals to use bare hands most of the time while handling their patients. This poses a great deal of risk to both the nurses and the patients. There are high chances that the nurse can get infected with the diseases which the patients are suffering from. This is very dangerous since such cases can lead to re-infections (Paul, 2007).
The choice of this case study is the magnitude of the risks that the case poses to the individuals around this environment. The level of exposure to health risks in such a condition is too high that it needs to be used to avoid a similar situation in any other health facility.
Actions and Interventions to Solve the Problem
The wards should be cleaned and hygiene maintained at all times. The hospital management should ensure that the environment within and outside the hospital is maintained at high standards always. This will control the level of infection and re-infections among the patients. It will also improve the rate of recovery among patients.
The bedding and clothing used by the patients as well as the nursing staff should be ensured that they are clean and in good state. Whenever a patient is getting admitted, the management should ensure that he or she is given clean bedding and cloths which has not been used by any other patient. The management should ensure that there is enough supply of such facility in the hospital. Patients should not be left to share bedding and clothing. When this is ensured, the level of infection among the patients will greatly be reduced (Paul, 2007).
The hospital management should ensure that there is enough and safe water to be used in the facility by all. The patients should get access to clean and safe water. If this is ensured, cases of diarrhea and other infections related to consumption of unsafe water will greatly decline.
The management should ensure that items as utensils and toilet papers are sufficient in the facility. When the patients are not sharing such personal items as plates, spoons, toilet papers among other items, the rate of recovery is improved greatly and the infection and re-infection rate declines.
The management should discourage the moving of items and utensils in and out of the hospital. Patients should use items which are strictly provided by the hospital. Items and food from outside the hospital should be discouraged as it increases or leads to poor hygiene in the hospital. The management should hence ensure that enough food and other facilities are availed in the health facility (Joan, 2010).
Safety equipment such as gloves, towels, disinfectants among others should be availed in the hospital in sufficient quantities. The nurses should not encounter any challenges related to the shortage of these items and equipment. This enables the nursing stuff to work with minimal challenges and also ensure that cases of infection in the course of duty are greatly minimized. When there are sufficient facilities and equipment at the nurses’ and staff’s disposal, the treatment and care given to patients is highly enhanced. Lack of this equipment may lead to very deadly cases such as infection of the staff with HIV/AIDS, as well as spread of other infectious diseases among the patients and even to the staff. The nurses risk getting infected if they do not use the appropriate measures and equipment. The equipment is hence very crucial in maintaining a good service delivery in the hospital (Joan, 2010).
Patients should also be educated on matters pertaining to health and the manner in which they should conduct themselves while undergoing treatment and care in hospitals. They should be educated on the basic hygienic measures and actions that they should take for a quick recovery.
The staff should also be given regular training to ensure that they are at pace with the changing situations such as the utilization of new items. In such cases the management should ensure that regular training and close supervisions are given to the nurses and other staff to make sure that they conform to the expected code of conduct, such as the set ethics and basic rules and regulations of the system (Paul, 2007).
Generally, the management of any health system or facility should ensure that optimum condition and environment is set to enable the stuff to work properly and assist the patients to recover sooner than latter.
References
Rita, H. (2011). Forensic Nursing: A Handbook for Practice. New York; Jones & Bartlett Publishers.
Susan, B. (2008). Nurse as Educator: Principles of Teaching and Learning for Nursing Practice. New York; Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Paul, K. (2007). Nursing Informatics: The Impact of Nursing Knowledge on Health Care Informatics. California; IOS Press
Sadia, N. (2011). Nursing: The Ultimate Management Guide. Washington DC. Demos Medical Publishing,
Joan, T. (2010). Leadership and Management in Nursing. New York; Jones & Bartlett Publishers.
