Journal (Academy of Hospital Administration (India))最新文献

The Bio-medical Engineering departments of two major hospitals having high-tech equipment needed for routine day to day patient care were compared with respect to their staffing pattern, proficiency, frequency of failure of major and minor equipment and predictable/non-predictable 'Down time' of the selected equipment using non-parametric statistical test. The study shows that Bio-medical Engineering Department (BME) of our Institute though not full fledged as compared to Hospital 'B' however showed better results in bringing down the down time both in major, minor equipment. The major cause of failure of equipment in both the hospitals was found to be rough handling, the need for imparting training to physicians, nurses, paramedical personnel dealing with bio-medical equipment and its role in preventive maintenance is discussed. Based on the study recommendations were made for preventive maintenance, purchase policy and linked to the policy of administration. Recommendations were made to bring down the Down time to acceptable limit though not for complete elimination.

The present study was carried out in order to observe and analyse the waste disposal patterns in a 500 bedded, multidisciplinary hospital located in a rural area. The hospital under study is a teaching hospital attached to a Medical college and has been functioning for over ten years. Data were collected by means of pre-structured interviews and on-the-spot observations of the various stages in the waste disposal chain. It was observed that the hospital does not have a documented wastes management and disposal policy. The disposal of wastes is not properly supervised and is exclusively entrusted to the junior most staff from the house keeping department. The disposal of all categories of hospital wastes, in general, leaves much to be desired and even pathological wastes were observed to be disposed off, on the open ground with scant regard to aesthetic considerations. Both the internal as well as external transportation of hospital wastes were found to be far from satisfactory.

The route of HIV transmission are now well defined. For health care workers the major occupational risk is from parenteral exposure to infected blood or other body fluids. To prevent such exposures, it would be prudent for HCWs to assume that all patients are potentially infected and a set of precautions applicable universally be followed in contacts with all patients. The provisions of "Universal Precautions" apply to blood, CSF, genital secretions and all body fluids. It is essential that barrier protection and washing of hands be practiced, body fluids be handled with care, correct sterilization and disinfection procedures be followed and a suitable system of waste disposal be evolved. Although the Universal Precautions have been useful in abating some of the more extreme behavior associated with treating AIDS patients and in establishing a rational approach to infection control, some of the recommendations have not been found to be efficacious or cost effective. Preventive measures recommend on the basis of demonstrated efficacy and aimed at routes of exposure that represent true risk are needed. The risks for occupational infection with blood borne pathogens have been a source of concern for health care workers (HCWs) because of their frequent and often substantial exposure to patient blood and body fluids. HCWs have long been identified as a group "at risk" for occupationally acquired Hepatitis B infection. With the development of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) epidemic, both HCWs and policy makers have become increasingly concerned about occupational risk from blood borne infections.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)