Efforts on preventing healthcare associated infections in hospitals and medical care institutions remain ongoing and difficult challenge in the medical care setting. Practising good infection control measures can significantly reduce patient morbidity and mortality in hospitals and has been proven over and over to be cost-effective as well. In our current situation where the transmission of Covid19 virus is critical, proper implementation and best practices on infection control by healthcare providers is undeniably vital to patient safety in hospitals.
2% CHG NON-RINSE CLOTH BATHING
Hospital-acquired bloodstream infections (HABSIs) are associated with increased morbidity, mortality, length of hospital stay, and costs. Central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs) account for the vast majority of HABSIs. In the past decade, a number of interventions have led to an overall decline in CLABSI rates in intensive care units (ICUs). These include catheter insertion bundles or checklists, disinfection of hubs and needleless connectors, and use of chlorhexidine gluconate (CHG) impregnated dressings.
Chlorhexidine gluconate (CHG) is a cleaning product used in infection control. Daily baths with CHG reduce the spread of infections in hospitals. CHG baths are especially helpful in intensive care units (ICUs). For several reasons, patients staying in the ICU have high possibilities of getting new infections. They are usually very ill and may have more than one medical condition. This makes them more prone to risks of infection. ICU patients are also likely to need medical interventions such as urinary catheters and ventilators. These measures can increase the risk of infections. Plus, many ICUs contain bacteria that have become resistant to antibiotic medicines. They can cause infections that are very hard to treat.
These types of infections cause major symptoms in many ICU patients each year. They may even cause deaths. To help prevent them, hospitals practise many precautions which also include daily CHG cloth bathing as long as the patient stays in an ICU.
Many experts now recommend daily non-rinse CHG cloth bathing for all people receiving care in the ICU due to its nursing time efficiency and cost effectiveness. Non-rinse CHG cloth bathing is trending in many new and modern hospitals today for its increased benefits.
More recently, bathing of patients with non-rinse CHG cloth bathing has received attention as a novel strategy to prevent HABSIs, both CLABSIs and non-CLABSIs. Bathing with CHG may reduce the risk of HABSI by lowering microbial burden on the patient’s skin and the hands of healthcare workers.
Source:
hopkinsmedicine.org/health/chg-bathing-and-therapies
BMC Infectious Diseases 19/Article#416 (14 May 2019)