1) Safe Work Practices Flashcards
3-5% (12 cards)
Definition of Standard Precautions
Treat all patients and specimens as though they’re potentially infectious and hazardous to our health.
Purpose of Standard Precautions
Protect patients and healthcare worker from exposure to potential sources of infectious disease.
Seven Components of Standard Precautions
1) Hand hygiene
2) PPE
3) Needlestick/sharps injury prevention
4) Respiratory hygiene
5) Cleaning & disinfection of surfaces/devices/equipment
6) Proper waste disposal
7) Vaccination
When must standard precautions be observed?
When working with ANY bodily substance with the exception of sweat.
When are additional precautions enforced?
When a known infectious agent has been identified in relation to a specific patient where routine practices are incapable of preventing the spread of infection to other patients and/or healthcare workers.
What are the five routes of transmission?
1) Contact
2) Droplet
3) Airborne
4) Vehicle
5) Vector
When are isolation rooms used?
Transmission via:
Contact
Droplet
Airborne
Droplet Transmission
- Coughing, talking, sneezing
- Respiratory viruses
- Large (50-100 um) particles remain w/in 2m of patient
- Can be in same room as another pt but must be 2+ meters apart
Contact Transmission
Direct = skin to skin
- shaking hands, direct touch, kissing
Indirect = infectious agent transferred to fomite and then contact is made with the object
- bedside rail, keyboard, blood pressure cuff
Airborne Transmission
- coughing, talking, sneezing
- chicken pox, measles, TB
- infectious agents transmitted via droplet nuclei (<10 um)
- remain & travel in the air for a long time
- patient door must remain closed
- N95 masks must be worn
Vehicle Transmission
- multiple individuals become infected due to a single source
- contaminated food or water, contaminated medication
Vector Transmission
- insects capable of carrying human diseases
- West Nile Virus, Malaria
