Surveillance of Healthcare-Associated Infections
Published: 23 July 2023
Published: 23 July 2023
Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) are the most common complication for hospitalised patients in Australia, with approximately 165,000 cases annually (NHMRC 2022).
These infections, which can occur in any healthcare setting, cause unnecessary pain and suffering for the patient, prolong hospital stays and add to the cost of care (ACSQHC 2023a).
However, through HAI surveillance, approximately one-third of cases can be prevented (VICNISS 2022).
The term healthcare-associated infection (HAI) refers to any infection acquired as a result of healthcare, either directly or indirectly (ACSQHC 2023a).
HAIs may be caused by a variety of pathogens, some of which are multi-resistant organisms (MROs) that are especially difficult to identify and treat (NSW Health 2020).
Common HAIs in Australia include:
(Lydeamore et al. 2022)
HAI Surveillance is the practice of monitoring and reporting HAI incidents. Surveillance allows health service organisations to evaluate current practice, observe outcomes, deliver feedback to staff and implement HAI prevention strategies as required. The aim is to improve clinical practice and consequently, patient outcomes (VICNISS 2022; ACSQHC 2023b).
Using infection rate data, organisations can assess the effectiveness of any strategies they have implemented. Once data has been collected, it can be delivered to the appropriate personnel and used to inform the development of future policies, procedures and protocols (VICNISS 2022; ACSQHC 2023b).
Surveillance can help organisations determine:
(VICNISS 2022)
The importance of HAI surveillance can be summarised by these three key points:
(Russo et. al 2018)
HAI surveillance is outlined in Action 3.05 of the National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards, under Standard 3: Preventing and Controlling Infections.
This action requires health service organisations to establish a HAI surveillance strategy that:
(ACSQHC 2022)
Examples of surveillance initiatives in Australia include:
(ACSQHC 2023b; VICNISS 2022)
In order for surveillance to work effectively, organisations should:
(Health.vic 2021)
Healthcare-associated infections are common and often have adverse consequences for patients.
However, surveillance allows health service organisations to gather data that can then be used to establish and monitor interventions to reduce the prevalence of HAIs.
Question 1 of 3
True or false: Surveillance can be used to monitor areas of practice in addition to specific infections.