MediSets®
Pre-packed sets for standardised care protocols serve less complexity and, last but not least, time.
Complying with hygiene standards presents a series of distinct challenges for nurses, both in inpatient and outpatient care settings. Pre-packed sets for standardised care protocols help increase patient security while saving practitioners’ valuable time.
Across Europe, almost four million patients are estimated to contract a nosocomial infection, also known as a healthcare-associated infection (HAI), every year during a stay in a hospital or care facility. As many as 37,000 of these cases are fatal. Many HAIs result from inadequate hygiene compliance during standard care procedures. Although these are common tasks that most healthcare professionals can expect to perform on a regular basis, they nevertheless are complicated and rather error-prone1.
Multiple challenges
"Standard procedures, for instance the application of a urinary catheter to a patient, come with a number of distinct challenges," confirms Nicolas Krieg. Before taking up his current position as a district nurse in the city of Duttlenheim in eastern France, the 32-year-old worked in an intensive care unit (ICU) for several years. "There are intricate multi-stage protocols that must be strictly followed in order to avoid causing asepsis breaches."
Correctly administering standard procedures – including all the required precautionary measures such as complying with hand and equipment hygiene requirements – is an even bigger challenge in intensive care conditions as the specific situations encountered in an ICU can cause additional stress. "Apart from the fact that there are large workloads per patient, the care in an ICU mostly is very technical and often vital," says Nicolas. "Life-threatening emergencies or even patient deaths are regular occurrences."
Daily work in an ICU can also take a heavy personal toll on the medical personnel and often leads to physical, intellectual or emotional fatigue, Nicolas adds. "Staff shortages, especially regarding nurses, are yet another regular stress factor."
Nursing on the move
In his current job as a private nurse, Nicolas treats patients in their own homes. Although it is quite different from working in an ICU, it can also be very stressful. Working on the move means having to adapt to a wide variety of environments over the course of any given day, none of which comply with the asepsis requirements of a hospital or care facility.
For example: In addition to his own hands, clothes and equipment, Nicolas regularly disinfects his patients' immediate surroundings to ensure they don't pose infection risks during standard care procedures.
Effective infection prevention
MediSet® kits allow nurses like Nicolas to maintain maximum patient safety despite the various stress factors of their daily routines. The pre-packed sets are sterile and contain the instruments and equipment necessary for a number of different care procedures placed in the right order for the procedure. Among others, Nicolas has used the sets for urinary catheterisation, peripheral venous catheterisation and suture removal.
For him, the sets are a key instrument in the fight against infections: "They help me adhere to standard operating procedures for specific care processes, because their composition has been precisely defined to fit the corresponding protocols," he says. "If the sets weren't available," Nicolas adds, "most procedures would require additional manual work. I would also be more likely to omit essential protocol steps. As a result, infection risk would increase."
Better time management
Regardless of whether patients need tending in a hospital or in their own homes, the average working day of a nurse is busy. For example, as a district nurse, Nicolas' 11.5-hour shifts begin at 6 in the morning. Every day, he sees up to 65 patients. His schedule is usually very tight, and every minute counts.
However, working with pre-packed sets allows Nicolas to manage his schedule more efficiently and also makes his daily work less stressful. As each set has been composed for a standardised care protocol, the corresponding process is streamlined and becomes less complex. As a result, Nicolas saves valuable time on each procedure, which he can use for other important aspects of patient care.
MediSets® make the working lives of experienced nurses like Nicolas Krieg easier on a daily basis. They are a simple yet effective means to prevent asepsis breach while saving time during standard care procedures. As a result, they are a valuable infection prevention tool. After all, it is estimated that up to half of all HAIs could be prevented through simple hygiene measures.
Step-by-step guide on how to apply a urinary catheter:
- inform the patient about the procedure
- make sure to have all necessary materials before starting the procedure in order not to interrupt the care
- wash and disinfect hands
- place patient on a waterproof underpad
- hand disinfection
- put on gloves to perform patient hygiene
- throw used components and gloves in an appropriate receptacle
- hand disinfection
- open sterile set and prepare sterile area: unfold sterile drape and put sterile material on it
- use blister alveolas as antiseptic liquid receptacle
- hand disinfection
- put on sterile gloves
- disinfect patient’s perineal area
- throw used components and gloves in an appropriate receptacle
- hand disinfection
- put on sterile gloves
- connect catheter and sterile urine bag
- control leakage of the balloon
- apply sterile lubricant on the catheter
- proceed to catheterization
- make sure urine flows
- fill up the balloon with sterile water
- throw used components and gloves in an appropriate receptacle
- hand disinfection
