Elevating Sterile Processing Businesses Through Tailored Consulting Excellence
The question to ask is , ‘ Was this an error in judgment ?’ And how do we correct that and how do we understand that infection prevention is not black and white , and you ’ ve got to be a critical thinker .”
Sheridan ( 2024 ) reminds us that “ Although healthcare organizations have a duty to protect patients from injury due to infections , courts recognize that no organization can guarantee that patients will not acquire an infection while under the care of the organization . However , organizations must realize that the potential of liability also exists if a patient ’ s infection results from negligence of the organization ’ s physicians or employees .”
To determine a standard of care , healthcare organizations must monitor patient outcomes , experts say , including conducting quality assurance activities such as infection surveillance , reviewing and revising infection prevention and control policies and procedures , providing in-service training sessions for staff about appropriate infection prevention and control practices , and prescribing overall adherence to the NPSGs .
If a patient establishes that they acquired an infection at a hospital , the hospital may have to prove infection prevention and control policies and practices were in place and that the physician and staff took immediate and appropriate interventions to treat and minimize the patient ’ s infection . Thus , hospitals must implement and require staff use of a patient safety event reporting system to facilitate data collection and investigation of patient safety issues . To ensure that the hospital meets its standard of care , the hospital should continuously evaluate how staff use aseptic technique and follow infection prevention and control procedures .
Kroll says that in the infection prevention world , IPs are responsible for identifying infections and outbreaks and taking action once an infection or outbreak has been identified , and that skill requires the use of judgment .
“ The question to ask is , ‘ Was this an error in judgment ?’ And how do we correct that and how do we understand that infection prevention is not black and white , and you ’ ve got to be a critical thinker . So , it ’ s about understanding the why behind the decision , and pushing it forward , and helping those providers . The thing from the infection preventionist standpoint is , if you ’ re in the field and you ’ re thinking in terms of black and white , you ’ re going to look at those protocols , and you ’ re going to be like well , ‘ black and white ’ and you ’ re going to have misses , and I ’ ve seen that . And so , in those cases it ’ s just not a good fit professionally for them if they cannot get past that piece , and learning the nuances . But then the other part of that is making sure that we support novice infection preventionists , and that we ’ re not putting them out there on their own to manage these situations , that they are well supported , and
Guiding Excellence , Redefining Operations
Elevating Sterile Processing Businesses Through Tailored Consulting Excellence
At Ketchum Konsulting , LLC , we specialize in providing tailored consulting services exclusively for sterile processing .
Whether you seek remote guidance or on-site support , we are here to facilitate your business growth . We are dedicated to empowering your sterile processing business through personalized consulting services .
KetchumKonsulting @ efficient-transformation . com 540.760.4816
september 2024 • www . healthcarehygienemagazine . com •
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