HAI FINAL.docx - Running head:PREVENTING...

Running head:PREVENTING HEALTHCARE-ASSOCIATED INFECTIONS IN HEMODIALYSIS
Preventing Healthcare-Associated Infections in Hemodialysis
Jessie Wharton
Grand Canyon University: NRS-490VN
April 28, 2019

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PREVENTING HEALTHCARE-ASSOCIATED INFECTIONS IN HEMODIALYSIS
Preventing Healthcare-Associated Infections in Hemodialysis
Background
Healthcare-Associated Infections, or HAIs, are infections that patients get while receiving
medical treatment (“Healthcare-Associated Infections”, n.d.). HAIs can occur in any kind of
healthcare setting, including dialysis centers, but most of these infections are preventable with
proper infection control. The focus of this paper is to learn how HAIs are spread, the impact
they have on patient outcomes and medical professionals, the significance to nursing, and how
they can be prevented. According to Healthy People 2020, HAIs have been linked to causing
increased morbidity and mortality in the United States and are also a reason for substantial
increases in healthcare year by year (“Healthcare-Associated Infections”, n.d.).
Problem Statement
Patients with end stage renal disease are already facing life with a compromised immune
system, but when you put them together in a large room with multiple patients with other
diseases, illnesses, and the continuous exposure to the bloodstream, it really stacks the odds in
infection’s favor. Patients have either a fistula, graft, or a central catheter as an access to dialyze
them. According to the CDC, bloodstream infections are a dangerous complication of dialysis,
as roughly 370,000 people rely on this treatment to sustain their lives (“Dialysis Safety”, 2018).
In order to prevent infection to all of these accesses, it is critical that all healthcare professionals
that take care of these patients be properly educated on technique, as well as continuously
educating their patients’ on how to prevent infections at home. For example, removing the
pressure dressing from their fistula or graft no longer after twenty-four hours after their
treatment, or keeping their catheter dressing dry at all times.

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PREVENTING HEALTHCARE-ASSOCIATED INFECTIONS IN HEMODIALYSIS
As mentioned above, these patients are at a dangerously high risk for infection at all
times, but the staff of a hemodialysis unit are also vulnerable to HAIs due to frequent and
prolonged exposure to many contaminants (Karkar, 2018). Infection is the number one causes of
hospitalizations for dialysis patients and the second leading causes of mortality. For the patient,
infections can mean more medications, a trip to the hospital, or even death. Once a patient has
an infection, they may never fully recover to the state they were in before the infection, such as a
diabetic patient on dialysis gets an infection in their fistula. The fistula may have to be removed
or deemed unfit for cannulation from the damage of the infection, and then have to have a central
catheter placed as a temporary access until they can be revaluated for another fistula or graft.