Nurses role Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Nurses role - Research Paper Example Nurses role Abstract The study of this research is aimed at exploring the role of nurses in prevention of the healthcare associated infections. The concept of healthcare associated infections has been defined in this research. The characteristics of healthcare associated infections have been studied. The essential conditions that lead to the transmission of healthcare associated infections to susceptible patients are identified in the research process. The various features of healthcare associated infections that distinguish it from other diseases have been studied in the research process.The nurses have been identified as the frontline people for prevention of health care associated infections. The duties and responsibilities of the nurses and the role played by them in preventing healthcare associated infections have been analyzed in this research. The various clinical methods and the medical practices adopted by the nurses have been analyzed in the research process that is useful in prevention of healthcare associated infections. Introduction The health care associated infections are the diseases that develop among the patients during the time of hospitalization. The contamination of the hospital environment and the transmission of the infectious agents affect the patients who are vulnerable to such infection. The nurses are frontline healthcare staff who can directly identify the symptoms of healthcare associated infections and could effectively treat the patients for recovery. Healthcare Associated Infections The Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, headquartered in Atlanta, USA has provided a formal definition of Healthcare Associated Infections. The health care associated infections are the diseases that affect the patients during the period of hospitalization. These patients are not affected by these diseases before hospitalization. Neither do these infections develop post hospitalization. The period of hospitalization is also counted as the time period from 48 hours to the next 10 days post hospitalization. There are three essential criteria, the fulfillment of which may lead to the transmission of healthcare associated infections. There must be a source of infected microorganism, an agent or a means of transmission of the infectious disease and a host or patient who is vulnerable to be affected by the infection. The various sources of infected microorganisms are the bacteria, viruses, fungi and protozoa. The sources of infection may also be the residual bacteria on the skin, intestine, respiratory system, etc of the patients. These infections are difficult to suppress and as a result of this the hospital environment, equipments, floors and exposed surfaces may get contaminated (Bullock,  Clark and  Rycroft-Malone, 2012). These act as agents for transmission. The infection is transmitted to the susceptible host or the patient who gets infected due to deficiency in the immunity of the host patient. The lack of immunity m ay be due to suffering from anemia, leukemia, diabetes, etc. The susceptibility of the host may also develop due to prolonged hospitalization on account of severe illness. Role of Nurses: Prevention of healthcare associated infections The role of nurses is extremely vital in prevention of healthcare associated infections. The nurses are the first point of resistance who are responsible to take necessary actions for prevention of the healthcare associated infections. The daily precautionary practices adopted by the nurse help in preventing the transmission of the health associated infection to the susceptible patients. The nurses have a direct control over recognizing the source of infection, monitoring the environmental conditions