Usingthe Data/Information/Knowledge/Wisdom Continuum
Usingthe Data/Information/Knowledge/Wisdom Continuum
Toundertake their duties diligently, nurses rely on theoretical andpractical knowledge. This then implies that any new knowledge in thenursing field is critical and highly encouraged. Currently, innursing practice, a substantial amount of new knowledge is essentialin ensuring delivery of requisite health care to patients. For a verylong time, the nursing fraternity has been insisting on thegeneration of knowledge as having new knowledge ensures that thenursing roles are executed effectively (Matney et al., 2011).Nonetheless, the search for knowledge has certain defined formality.This search in most cases commences with the data collection and thenproceeds to the extraction of information from the sources listed.The next step in the process then details churning the information tocreate meaningful understanding. The knowledge acquired is thentransformed into wisdom (Matney et al., 2011).
Theclinical research question for this paper is isthere a relationship between the level of hygiene and the spread ofnosocomial infections?
Thereare different ways of maintaining hygiene. One such way is washing ofhands. It is documented that individuals who maintain high hygienelevels often can avoid some of the infections like the nosocomialinfections (Doebbeling et al., 1992). Washing hands entail numerousthings, and one such move is the use of alcohol-based handsanitizers. When hospitalized, complications often arise. One seriouscomplication that arises during the hospitalization is nosocomial,which is responsible for more than half of the cases reported.According to Doebbeling et al., (1992), more than 80% of the diseasescan be stopped through the washing of hands. The benefits of washinghands are numerous as they help in the prevention of common cold andinfluenza. Having infections and germs on the hands is strong pointerthat individuals often pass infections through hands. Severalresearch works also attest to the fact that hand washing helps inreduction of nosocomial infections and transfer of pathogens from thehands (Doebbeling et al., 1992). For most of the incidences,nosocomial infections spread through contact with a patient from thehands of health professionals.
Data
Toaddress the research question effectively, additional data isrequired. Some of the data that will be essential include that on theprevalence of nosocomial infections in different patients indifferent hospitals. Additionally, the research will have to collectdata in regards to the level of hygiene and the hand washing trend orculture. Also, data regarding nosocomial infections and the manner inwhich they show in different situations will also be instrumentalwhen addressing the research question. Data will be collected fromdifferent hospitals and comparison done. One of the comparisons thatwill be instrumental in the process is that of hospitals with highrates of washing hands and those with low rates of hand washing.Through such a comparison, the role of hand washing in the preventionof nosocomial will be established. Ideally, for the research questionto be fully tackled, statistical analysis of the nosocomial infectionrates as well as that of hand hygiene adherence rates have to bedone.
Informationand Databases
Inusing the continuum suggested relevant data that is required toanswer the research question is gathered. Some of the databases thatwill be significant in this process include PubMed, CINAHL, and SagePublications. As contained in the literature in PubMed databases, onecan get the existing relationship between washing of hands as a wayof maintaining hygiene and prevalence of nosocomial diseases. Thesedatabases have several collections of nursing journals andpublications that contain relevant information to the researchquestion. The other databases include the Journal of Hygiene andPreventive Medicine (JHPM), which has information on hygiene and thesignificance of hygiene in preventing the occurrence of infections.The other database is the National Nursing Database, which containsinformation regarding the family nursing indicators and the degree aswell as the frequency of infection among the American nurses. Thepaper will also rely on different journal databases to reveal thepredominance of the infection acquired within hospital setup and themanner in which the infections occur among patients.
Bysearching through the databases, relevant information is obtained inregards to topical issues that will define the link between handwashing and nosocomial infections. In getting the right information,search terms are used, and they include “nosocomial infections”,“infections”, “hand washing infections” and “therelationship between hand washing and nosocomial infections”.Through these search words, relevant information will be gathered inregards to the hand washing and nosocomial infections. Informationthat is critical in answering the research question will beconsidered, and this will be done by previewing the chapters in thebooks and articles. To get the relationship between nosocomialinfections and hand washing, the research would concentrate on theareas detailing the information. The information obtained is thenarranged into a theoretical context to help determine the connectionbetween hand washing and spread of nosocomial infections (Matney etal., 2011). Additionally, to derive more meaning, the informationwill be presented in graphical forms to bring out the relationshipbetween the researches variables.
Knowledge
Theinformation collected is then turned into useful form, knowledge.Turning the information into useful forms entails synthesis of theinformation and finding out the link that exists between hand washingand nosocomial infections. The relationship is supported to helpexplain the reason behind the relationship. Through this, informationis turned into relevant knowledge (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2015).
Wisdom
Bybeing in a position to explain the effects of nosocomial infectionsin family nursing practice, knowledge has been turned to wisdom.Further, many initiatives are to take place, and they includesensitization on the significance of clean hands. Also, sensitizationwill be done to explain the importance of washing hands and thenwearing protective gloves when dealing with patients who havenosocomial infections.
Bypractically applying the knowledge obtained from the books andresearch to help prevent the spread of nosocomial infections,knowledge is turned into wisdom. The useful part of it entailsseveral actions including sensitization, counseling, and education.The application of the knowledge acquired will help solve the issuesregarding nosocomial infections and thus affirm the process as wisdom(McGonigle & Mastrian, 2015).
Inconclusion, research entails a systematic process, which begins rightfrom the acquisition of data and then proceeds to turn the data intoinformation. Data is collected from different relevant databases asindicated in the study. Some of these databases include PubMed,Journal of Hygiene and Preventive Medicine (JHPM) and CINAHL. Data isturned into information upon being duly organized, structured, andinterpreted. When information is synthesized, the resultant processgives knowledge. Knowledge is applied to make meaning hence wisdom.Meaning is created by solving some of the problems that face humans,in this case, nosocomial infections.
References
Doebbeling,B. N., Stanley, G. L., Sheetz, C. T., Pfaller, M. A., Houston, A. K.,Annis, L., … & Wenzel, R. P. (1992). Comparative efficacy ofalternative hand-washing agents in reducing nosocomial infections inintensive care units. NewEngland Journal of Medicine, 327(2),88-93.
Matney,S., Brewster, P. J., Sward, K. A., Cloyes, K. G., & Staggers, N.(2011). Philosophical approaches to the nursing informaticsdata-information-knowledge-wisdom framework. Advancesin Nursing Science, 34(1),6-18.
McGonigle,D., & Mastrian, K. (2015). Nursinginformatics and the foundation of knowledge.Jones & Bartlett Publishers.