Infection Control Policy in Australia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Infection Control Policy in Australia - Essay Example The World Health Organization (2003, p.9) highlights that there have been emergencies of dangerous respiratory and other infectious diseases like tuberculosis over the years. Therefore, there is a need to introduce policies for healthcare facilities for the aged to control such infections and their spread. Infection control policy has been defined as the programs and procedures meant to monitor diseases within health care facilities, investigate, prevent and control the spread of such infections and their causes. Infection control policies involve the procedures, which are used in the healthcare facilities, which serve to minimize the spread of any infection to patients and other people. The infection control policy is a health branch of healthcare with a role to prevent healthcare associate’s infections. Hence, infection control policies serve to manage any spread of infections and infectious microorganisms in the healthcare facilities (World Health Organization 2003, p.9). T o ensure that transmission of infections is properly monitored, there is a need to inform the patients, their relatives, healthcare workers and people who are involved in caring for the aged. The Essex Health Protection Unit (2011, p.6) highlights that these policies have been developed for use by proprietors, healthcare personnel and care homes and their implementation helps to ensure that there is efficiency in management of risks associated with infections. Further, implementation of these policies ensures that quality of healthcare for the aged is improved. The World Health Organization (2003, p.12) highlights that infection control policies should have some defining characteristics for it to be effective. The first characteristic of the policy is the operating of systems for control of infections. This means that the policy should have regulations put in place to respond to any cases of infections. Secondly, the policy should have education and training programs for the healthc are personnel who are involved in nursing of the aged. They should be taken through training so that they can be able to understand what is required of them. Thirdly, the healthcare workers should be protected by the policy. The policy should ensure that healthcare workers health is protected through immunization programs and other methods, which promote prevention of infections when working (World Health Organization 2003, p.12). Lastly, the policy should identify potential hazards and ways of minimizing any risks of infections. According to NSW Health (2010, p.10) the main purpose of the policy is to lay down the fundamental principles of controlling infections in the Australian healthcare system. These foundations help the healthcare system to develop policies and procedures that are relevant for their own aged care nursing facilities. Infection control policies purposes can be implemented through either standard precautions or additional precautions (NSW Health 2010, p.3). The p olicy standard precautions are said to apply to all patients at all times irrespective of their health conditions (National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence 2012, p.12). The first purpose of the infection control policies is to ensure Standard procedures are followed when dealing with patients. These precautions involve using basic standard healthcare precautions to provide a high degree of protection to the healthcare workers, the aged and people who are exposed to them.