Infection control and personal safety

Question 1

What is a healthcare associated infection?

Answer 1

Any infection acquired by a patient while receiving treatment for a medical/surgical condition

includes nosocomial infections

Question 2

What are direct, indirect, and intangible costs of hospital-associated infections?

Answer 2

Direct fixed: buildings, utilities, labor
Direct variable: Medications, food, devices
Indirect costs: Lost wages, mortaility
Intangible: psychological/pain

Question 3

If you get an infection, how much longer do you have to stay?

Answer 3

about 17.6 days - which is why patients are in the hospital for a long time

Question 4

What are healthcare associated infections cause of death compared to breast and prostate cancer?

Answer 4

Higher than both COMBINED

Question 5

What are the three major infections that are the highest?

Answer 5

1. PNA
2. Surgical site infections from any inpatient surgery
3. GI

Used to be UTI (but now really strict

Question 6

What type of infections spiked very high when COVID-19 hit? What decreased?

Answer 6

ventilator-associated events increased

C dif decreased because prophylactic AB were decreased because of less procedures overall

Question 7

What are the RF for health care associated infections?

Answer 7

Anything that injects into the skin, any skin breaks, contamination of healthcare environment, transmission of infections between patients/staff (whitecoats), overuse of AB

Question 8

Outpatient RF for health care associated infections?

Answer 8

1. Less oversight and infection control than hospital settings
2. Improper sterilization and disinfection
3. Reuse of syringes and needles
4. Using single-use medication vials for multiple patients

Question 9

What are the 8 NEVER events

Answer 9

1. Objects left in patients after surgery
2. HA UTI
3. HA bloodstream infections
4. Administration of incompatible blood products
5. Air embolism
6. Patient falls (see if they are at fall risk)
7. Pressure ulcers
8. Certain surgical site infections

HA = hospital acquired

terrible for patients

Question 10

What are the methods transmission based on contact, droplet, airborne?

Answer 10

Indirect contact: equipment/environment

Direct contact: Hands, injection, ingestion

Droplet: droplet

Airbonre (droplet nuclei)

Question 11

What do facilities do to prevent infections?

Answer 11

1. evidence-based protocol with reassessments
2. at least one person who has a job in infection prevention
3. proper sterilization of reusable and permanent equipment.
4. Health care personnel with job-specific training
5. supplies and PPE

Question 12

What are the standard precautions for PPE?

Answer 12

Hand hygeine
Use of PPE
Safe injection processes
Safe handeling of contaminated equipment
Respiratory hygiene/ cough etiquette

Question 13

Universal precautions vs standard?

Answer 13

Basically the same, jut an older term

Question 14

What is hand hygiene

Answer 14

1. Before you touch a patient
2. Wash hands after touching patient
3. Contact of ANYTHING that is touching a body part.
4. Prior to performing an aseptic task and then clean after.
5. After glove removal you should clean hands again

Question 15

When do you use soap and water vs alcohol-baed hand rub

Answer 15

Visibly soiled hands or after infectious diarrhea contact = soap and water

otherwise alcohol based is preferred

Question 16

What areas do we not wash that wall?

Answer 16

Thumb
Tips of fingers

Question 17

When do you where gloves?

Answer 17

if possible contact with blood or body fluids, mucous membranes, non-intact skin or potentially infectious material (including sweat)

Question 18

When do you where a gown?

Answer 18

procedures or activities where contact with blood or body fluids is anticipated

Question 19

When do you where Mouth, nose and eye protection?

Answer 19

during procedures that are likely to generate splashes or sprays of blood or other body fluids

Question 20

When do you use face shields/masks?

Answer 20

can also protect patients from oropharyngeal droplets from provider

Question 21

Final step of removing PPE

Answer 21

Hand hygiene

Question 22

What is aseptic technique?

Answer 22

Not sterile, but still trying to minimize germs as much as possible

Question 23

If there is a multidose vial, what should you do?

Answer 23

Use it for one patient

Question 24

Most important surfaces to clean?

Answer 24

Those that are used the most (door handles) those that are closest to patients

FOLLOW THE LABEL

Question 25

What are critical item medical equipment?

Answer 25

Must be sterile
enter sterile tissue or vascular system

IV catheters, surgical tools

Question 26

Semi-critical items

Answer 26

mucous membranes or non-intact skin
High-level disinfection prior to reuse
i.e. Colonoscopes

Question 27

Noncritical items

Answer 27

intact skin only; no mucous membranes
low- or intermediate-level disinfection
i.e. BP cuffs

Question 28

Environmental surfaces

Answer 28

generally do not contact pt
Routine cleaning, low-level disinfection
i.e. Floor, walls

Question 29

how to stop respiratory infections in peds?

Answer 29

Make a seperate waiting room

Question 30

What are contact precautions?

Answer 30

Used when pts have an infection that can be spread by CONTACT

also by fomites organisms (environmental surfaces)

Question 31

what do you wear for contact precaution?

Answer 31

Gown and gloves upon room entry

Question 32

What are droplet precautions?

Answer 32

WEAR A MASK and eye protection (typically)

single room by themselves
paired with others that have similar organisms

rest of PPE depends on exposure

Question 33

What are airborne precautions?

Answer 33

Need negative-pressure ventilation that keeps air out of hospital (to keep air moving outside of the room)

Typically wear an N-96 respiratory
only vaccinated workers

where a respiratory if you are out of the room