Abstract
Hospital logistics staff comprise a crucial, albeit easily overlooked, group in the prevention and control of hospital nosocomial infections, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. From the perspective of hospital safety improvement, this paper describes the current situation and challenges in the prevention and control of nosocomial infections among hospital logistics staff. We also provide the following suggestions to improve nosocomial infections: (1) updating the learning system of nosocomial infections, (2) reinforcing the training of infections prevention, (3) properly arranging manpower and resources, and (4) improving the supervision and management system.
Highlights
Nosocomial infections, known as hospital-acquired/ associated infections, refer to infections occurring within 48 hours of hospital admission, 3 days of discharge, or 30 days of an operation [1, 2]
Hospital logistic staff are a crucial part of the hospital and play essential roles in maintaining the normal operation and management of hospital routine activities
Logistics staff account for more than 10% of the total hospital staff and are highly involved with multiple daily duties including cleaning, sanitizing, collecting and transporting the medical waste, and cleaning contaminated materials, etc. Due to their diverse and extensive daily duties, logistics staff are in close contact with patients, which may expose the patients in a potential risk of nosocomial infections [5,6,7]
Summary
Nosocomial infections, known as hospital-acquired/ associated infections, refer to infections occurring within 48 hours of hospital admission, 3 days of discharge, or 30 days of an operation [1, 2]. Every one in ten patients admitted to a hospital may acquire a nosocomial infection during their stay in developing countries [1,2,3] With such a high prevalence, nosocomial infections cause a huge disease burden all over the world, leading to a prolonged hospital stay, increased antimicrobial resistance, higher medical expenses, more medical disputes, long-term disability, and even increased mortality [4]. It is both important and urgent to understand the current situation and risk factors for nosocomial infections in order to guide its further prevention and control. Erefore, hospital logistics staff, as a key chain in maintaining hospital normal operation, cannot be ignored in the prevention and control of nosocomial infections. is paper describes the current situation and challenges in the prevention and control of nosocomial infections among hospital logistics staff using a provincial hospital as an example, based on which we further propose several strategies to control nosocomial infections
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