![]() The client may have a suspected infection according to their clinical signs and symptoms, or could have an infection confirmed with a test result. The mode of transmission of the infectious agent will determine which additional precautions are required. Routine Practices include:Ĭertain types of infectious microorganisms require additional precautions in addition to routine practices. Additional precautions include contact, droplet, and airborne precautions or a combination of these precautions. Routine practices will prevent transmission of microorganisms from client to client, client to healthcare provider, healthcare provider to client, and healthcare provider to healthcare provider. Routine practices refer to minimum practices that should be used with all clients. Infection prevention and control routine practices should be used to prevent exposure to blood, body fluids, secretions, excretions, mucous membranes, non-intact skin, or soiled items (PIDAC, 2012).Īll clients can potentially be infectious thus, it is important to consider which routine practices to follow and why. The principles of routine practices are based on the assumption that all clients are potentially infectious, even when asymptomatic. ![]() To decrease the risk of infections, it is your responsibility to ensure that you understand and consistently follow routine practices with all clients, with every interaction, and in every healthcare setting to prevent and control the transmission of microorganisms (PIDAC, 2012). Routine practices include performing a point-of-care risk assessment, hand hygiene, wearing the appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) when needed, respiratory etiquette, safe handling of sharps, controlling the surrounding environment, using avoidance procedures and actions, and following environmental cleaning and disinfecting protocols. Examples include using steam, hydrogen peroxide, or other sterilizing agents to clean surgical tools. ![]() Sterile asepsis, or sterile technique, is a strict technique to eliminate all microorganisms from an area (Potter et al., 2019). Medical asepsis, or clean technique, reduces and prevents the spread of microorganisms (Potter et al., 2019). Examples include hand hygiene, using personal protective equipment, and following routine practices. There are two types of techniques used to prevent the spread of infections: medical asepsis and sterile asepsis. The answers from the risk assessment will help you to identify and determine which infection prevention and control strategies you need to implement to reduce the risk of transmission of microorganisms. Infection control and medical asepsis series#When performing the risk assessment, you need to ask yourself a series of questions prior to providing care for every client. Infection control and medical asepsis how to#Public Health Ontario outlines how to perform a risk assessment related to routine practices and additional precautions ( ). Performing a risk assessment is foundational in the prevention of infection transmission. Once you have completed a risk assessment, you need to assess how to decrease your risk of exposure, determine the infection prevention and control practices required to minimize your risk (e.g., hand hygiene, required PPE) and how to prevent the risk transmission to others (Provincial Infectious Diseases Advisory Committee, 2012). Risks include exposure to blood, body fluids, mucous membranes, non-intact skin, contaminated surfaces or soiled items, and even airborne particles. Prior to providing care, healthcare providers must perform a point-of-care risk assessment of the environment before every interaction with clients to ensure safe care and determine the potential risk for exposure to infections. HAIs will be discussed further in Chapter 3. Hand hygiene is considered the most important and effective measure to prevent HAIs. ![]() A survey conducted by the Canadian Nosocomial Infection Surveillance Program (2020) found that participating Canadian hospitals estimated that 7.9% of clients had at least one HAI. HAIs are infections that occur when a person is infected with a pathogen during their care in a healthcare setting. When infection prevention and control practices are used consistently, the transfer of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) can be prevented in healthcare settings. Evidence-based best practices for infection prevention and control provide guidelines to healthcare providers to ensure safe, quality care is provided to clients, visitors, healthcare providers, and the healthcare environment. Infection prevention and control refers to practices that can prevent or reduce the risk of transmission of microorganisms. Introduction to Infection Prevention and Control Practices ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |