P R E VA L E N C E O F V I TA L S I G N

PA R A P H E R N A L I A C O N TA M I N AT I O N I N T H E
CLINICAL AREA

Prepared b y:

ANGEL NICO LE RACELIS

 RATIONALE

N osocom ial infection or also called healthcare associated

infection is defined by W H O (2010) as an infection

occurring in a patient during the process of care in a

hospital or other health care facility w hich w as not

present or incu bating at th e tim e of ad m ission . H CAI can

affect patients in any type of setting w here they receive

care and can also appear after discharge.

 O v e r 10 0

M illio n o f p at ien t aro u n d t h e w o rld

a r e a f f e c t e d b y H CA I . I t w a s
e st i m a t e d e v e r y y e a r b a se d o n
W H O ( 2 0 10 )
 M onitoring vital signs of the patient is one of the
m ost im portant intervention of the nurse, for them

to have baseline data of the patient's overall health.

C leaning and disinfecting of the vital signs

paraphernalia is som etim es neglected.

In the chain of infection, indirect
transm ission refers to the transfer of an
infectious agent from a reservoir to a host
by m eans of non living objects (C D C ,
2012.)

A non living object is called fom ites that

transm it disease causing m icrobes.
In th is th is stu d y th e fo m ites are th e blood
pressure apparatus and the therm om eter.
A study conducted in N igeria by Uneke
(2011) result show ed that 62.1% of
therm om eter and 82.1% of bp pressure cuffs
exam ined w ere contam inated w ith
Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudom onas
aeruginosa or Enterococcus
faecali. Staphylococcus aureus w as the m ost
com m on isolates constituting 86.1% and
73.9% of the isolates from therm om eter and
bp cu ffs from nursing unit and m edical w ard
w ere contam inated.
A research conducted in Iligan revealed that out of the
29 selected bacterial isolates, 13.8% w ere
p resu m p tiv ely id entified to be S ta p h ylo co c cu s sp .,
B acillus sp., and acto bacillu s sp., resp ectively.
S trep to co ccu s sp ., M icro cco u s sp , N eisseria sp ., a n d
Pseudomonas sp. Accord ingly, the m ost com m on
causes of nosocom ial infections are E sch erich ia co li,
Staphylococcus aureus, and Pseudom onas sp., all of
w h ich a re fo u n d sig n ifica n tly in th e sa m p les taken from
GTLM H . In the sphygm om anom eter cuffs, a high
num ber of M icro b a cillu s sp . w as found in the O PD,
while La cto b a cillu s sp . was found to be higher in
nu m b er in the ER and DR. In the stethoscopes, bacteria
w ere found to be evenly distributed in the four areas.
O f these areas, the O PD w as foun d to have the m ost
nu m b e r of id entified bacteria which may be attributed t
o the num ber of patients going there for consultation.
B oth study have show ed that
there are Staphylococcus aureus
and Pseudom onas aeruginosa in
the B P apparatus and
therm om eter.
Staphylococcus aureus can cause
serious infections such as
bloodstream infections,
pneum onia, or bone and joint
infections (M innesota,2017).
W hile Pseudom onas aeruginosa can
cause bacterim ia, pneum onia,
f o l l i c u t i s ,e x t e r n a l e a r c a n a l
infection and eye infection
(C afasso, 2016).
PURPOSE STATEMENT

This study aim s to determ ine

the potential pathogenic

m ic r o b e s i n th e p a r a p h e r n a l i a to

prevent the accum ulation of

nosocom ial infection.

 OBJECTIVE
✔to determ ine the potential pathogenic
m icrobes in the paraphernalia used in taking
vital signs.

✔ to d etect w h ich am on g th e steth o sco p e bell,

stethoscope earpiece, sphynom am om eter, bp
cuff and therm om eter got the highest num ber
of pathogenic m icrobes.

✔toidentify w hich am ong the O PD and ER

got the highest num ber of pathogenic
m icrobes.
 St u d en t N u r se:
For them to m aintain the proper precautionary m easures regarding infecti
o n co ntro l an d to p rotect th em selv es against H CAI.

N u r ses an d ot h er h eal t h p r of essi on al s:

For them to be m ore conscious in cleaning and disinfecting of th
e Vital sign paraphernalia.

N u r si n g Su p er v i sor :
For them to im prove education of the staff regarding the im port
a n c e o f strict co m p lia n c e o f p re v e n tiv e m e asu re s fo r H CAI.

H eal t h car e i n st i t u t i on :
For them to be strict in the standard protocol for cleaning and disin
fecting vital sign paraphernalia to decrease H CAI.

S I G N I F I C A N C E OF T H E S T U D Y
 SCO PE
W h o : O P D an d E R N u rses

W h en : Au g u st to N o vem b er 24
W h ere : Do n M an u el M em o rial Distric
t H o sp ital

H o w : Desc rip tive - Q u an titative

 REFERENCE
Castillo, C.K., Malicay, K. & Perez, A. (2010). Nurses as patients advocates in preventing
nosocomial infections: a determinative study of potentially pathogenic bacterial vital
signs-taking paraphernalia. (Vol. 13, No.1) The mindanao forum.
https://ejournals.ph/article.php?id=7056 Uneke, C.K. & Ijeoma, P.A, (2011). The potential
for transmission of hospital-acquired infections by non-critical medical devices: The role
of thermometers and blood pressure cuffs.http://www.nextemp.ru/Uneke-
Potential%20for%20Transmissionof%20HAI- Thermometers%20&%20BP%20Cuffs.pdf
WHO, (2010). Clean care is safer care.
http://www.who.int/gpsc/country_work/burden_hcai/en/
CDC, (2012). Principles of Epidemiology in Public Health Practice, Third Edition
An Introduction to Applied Epidemiology and Biostatistics. Retrieved May
18. https://www.cdc.gov/ophss/csels/dsepd/ss1978/lesson1/section10.html
Healthline. (n.d.). Pseudomonas Infections.
https://www.healthline.com/health/pseudomonas- infections
Minnesota. (2010). Causes and Symptoms of Staphylococcus
aureus. http://www.health.state.mn.us/divs/idepc/diseases/staph/basics.html