Infection Control in Dialysis - Essay Example

"Infection Control in Dialysis" is an outstanding example of a paper on infections.
HA-MRSA is commonly found in hospital settings and health care facilities such as nursing homes and dialysis centers. Although CDC reported a 25% reduction in HA-MRSA cases (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, 2012), the issue of MRSA infection remains “an important public health problem” throughout the United States (CDC, 2011a).

Continuous intake of antibiotics can lower down the normal flora of the human body. Eventually, this causes HA-MRSA strains to have the opportunity to easily infect the patients (Halcomb et al., 2008). Since some of the patients who are admitted to a hospital are administered antibiotics, there is a higher risk wherein patients who are taken to a dialysis center can be infected with HA-MRSA.

Significance of the Problem to Nursing

HA-MRSA can easily be transmitted from one patient to another. Therefore, nurses should be required to undergo proper handwashing to minimize the risk of unintentionally transmitting the MRSA bacteria to other patients (Grossman & DeBartolomeo, 2008).

In general, preventing the spread of HA-MRSA within the dialysis center is one of the best ways in which the nurses can deliver holistic care to the patients. As part of increasing the student nurses’ knowledge and skills when it comes to preventing the spread of HA-MRSA within the dialysis center, this study aims to educate the student nurses about the importance of decolonization (i.e. handwashing with soap, the use of alcohol-based hand sanitizer, regularly disinfecting the air and medical equipment used in dialysis, etc.).

Importance of the Problem to Nurses and to Patients

HA-MRSA infection does not only increase the patients’ mortality risks but also adds up

the economic burden the patients’ family has to face since patients who are infected with HA-MRSA is more difficult to treat and requires a prolonged hospital stay and expensive medicine to cure infection (Halcomb et al., 2008). Since the spread of HA-MRSA can cause harmful health impacts on the physical health of the patients, the student nurses should exert more effort to learn different ways on how they can strictly implement regular infection control measures in order to ensure that a dialysis center is free from infectious microorganisms.

Intended Way to Address the Problem through Examination of Research

To ensure that student nurses are able to implement effective infection control in dialysis centers, this study aims to conduct a literature review to determine not only the adverse socio-economic and health effects of HA-MRSA infection but also the different ways in which the student nurses can effectively control the spread of HA-MRSA within a dialysis center. To address the study problem, search engines like CINAHL, Medline, PubMed, and Cochrane databases will be utilized for the literature review.

To narrow down the searches, the following delimiters will be used in the study: (1) HA-MRSA dialysis center; (2) hospital-acquired methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus dialysis center; (2) HA-MRSA prevention preventive strategy dialysis center; (3) hospital-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus prevention strategy; (4) HA-MRSA causes dialysis center; (5) hospital-acquired methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus causes; and (6) HA-MRSA signs and symptoms among others.