Hospital infection control in critical patient nursing care

Abstract

Hospital-acquired infection is characterized by infection acquired after patient admission, and manifests itself during hospitalization or after discharge. This study is an integrative review. The search for articles was carried out using the following databases: BDENF (Nursing Database), Scielo (Scientific Electronic Library Online), MEDLINE (Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System Online), BIREME (Regional Library of Medicine), LILACS (Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System Online) and Google Scholar. The inclusion criteria for the bibliographic sources were articles published from 2012 to 2017, available in full text. It is of utmost importance that health professionals are aware of the concept of hospital infection, its chain of transmission, standard precautions, prevention measures, and biosafety. Nursing is primordial in the assistance to these patients, because it acts directly in the prophylaxis and control of infections, constantly assists the user with invasive and potentially contaminated procedures, manipulates equipment, instruments and medications, besides developing surveillance and prevention actions. It is concluded that nursing care is essential in the care of critically ill patients who need extra care.