KARACHI: Infection risk to health workers discussed
KARACHI, April 25: Medical professionals at a workshop called for a comprehensive approach to prevent infection risk among health care workers.
The workshop on "Occupational health risks for nurses" was held under aegis of Infection Control Society here on Sunday.
Speakers on the occasion recommended consolidation of health care workers' protection as an integral part of safety and health programme of all concerned establishments. They also recommended refresher training programmes and educational activities at local health care outlets to update knowledge of all health care workers.
Concerted efforts to improve hygienic and cleanliness conditions at local health care outlets as well as to instil importance of personal hygiene among health care workers was also suggested.
"Transmissible infections in health care workers must be identified quickly so that they can be excluded from the work place until they are no longer infectious," Dr Mohammad Razi Masood submitted in his presentation reminding that job security of health care workers has to be ensured.
He stressed on provision for immunization and vaccination for all health care workers by their respective management at regular intervals, besides their frequent screening and examination with particular reference to personal hygiene.
Dr Humaira Danish spoke on the incidence of needle-prick injury among doctors, nurses and paramedics and referred to the rising incidence of Hepatitis B and C in this regard.
According to available studies, she said, about 33 per cent of all concerned professionals administering injections, as part of their duties, got needle prick injury on daily basis. She attributed this to wrong practices, which at times could be impulsive on part of the professionals.
She opined that extreme caution could be of great help to prevent themselves from needle-prick injury. Besides, she said that provision for compulsory vaccination against Hepatitis B could provide protection in 80 per cent of cases.
Ilmiya Mughal, a senior nurse, regretted that the constant deterioration in health care sector and growing pressure on nurses and other professionals were compelling them to work without any needed support of protection.
She stressed on due care among nurses for improved personal hygiene besides educating their respective family members, friends as well as patients about the same and its significance to avoid infection.
In her presentation, she also called for urgent measures for safe disposal facilities for all hospital-generated wastes and stringent measures to keep hospital surrounding clean.
Referring to communicable diseases, Dr Khurshid Hashmi underscored the need for improved understanding among health care workers about transmission of infections. According to him, the guidelines provided by the Communicable Diseases Centre must not be considered enough for all types of settings, as otherwise it often leads to false sense of security among hospital administrators.
Mentioning that CDC guidelines can act as basic principles for any setting to formulate its own guidelines, Dr Hashmi said that every patient might not reflect signs of infections and therefore due caution should be adopted in handling all patients.
Prof Badar Jahan Farooqui advised the nurses to reassess their work and identify their requirements. The latter were particularly asked to use protective gears like gloves and masks as a routine requirement and other specific facilities if assigned to serve at operation theatres, isolation wards and so forth.
In her presentation on "Hand hygiene and personal protection", Qudsia Khatoon highlighted the importance of proper hand washing for all health care workers. The participants of the workshop observed that the cause of deterioration was not the lack of resources but poor management.
Dr Rafiq Khanani and Dr S.A. Abbasi, the representatives of the Infection Control Society, Pakistan, also spoke on the occasion. -APP
