Travel nursing professionals can reduce HAI occurrence

No matter where your travel nursing assignment lands you, it's important to keep hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) in mind. From contact precautions to the most basic preventative measures, there's a lot to brush up on.

CDC prevention suggestions
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention regularly maintain a list of recommendations that are aimed to help prevent HAIs. Depending on the patient's issues, there are different steps you can take. If you are working as a travel nurse on a trauma or ER unit, you may be most interested in learning more about preventing surgical site infections (SSIs). Before, during and after surgery, these steps can help you to improve the well-being of your patients:

  • Use evidence-based standards and guidelines when administering antimicrobial prophylaxis and adjust for patient weight
  • Refrain from removing hair surrounding the operative site before surgery, unless it will interfere with the procedure
  • Prepare the skin for surgery using the appropriate techniques and supplies
  • Address remote infections prior to elective operations and procedures
  • Keep the operating room doors closed unless personnel or equipment must leave or enter the area
  • Protect the surgical site with sterile dressings following the operation
  • Monitor and control blood glucose levels during the postoperative stages
  • Continue antibiotic use until standards and guidelines dictate otherwise

Another common HAI is the catheter-associated urinary tract infection. However, you can reduce the risk of patients you are treating on travel nursing jobs by reviewing the CDC's preventative recommendations. The CDC explians that some of the top things to consider include:

  • Allow only properly trained personnel to insert catheters using sterile equipment and following the aseptic technique
  • Remove catheters once they are no longer necessary
  • Ensure the patient maintains unobstructed urine flow while the catheter is inserted
  • Using portable ultrasounds to assess urine volume to avoid unnecessary catheterizations

If you and your colleagues are interested in learning more about how you can prevent HAIs, do your homework! There's plenty of information readily available online that can teach you all about the proper techniques for avoiding a variety of infections in a healthcare setting. In fact, American Sentinel University recently released an eBook for download that will teach you how to decrease the number of HAIs patients experience while you're on an assignment. As a result, you will be able to improve your skills as a travel nurse, in that you are preventing rather than reacting to such infections.