Unit 303 Flashcards
What does cross - infection mean?
a patient being contaminated by another patient/member of staff (infection), or from a dirty instrument.
The guidelines in regards to decontamination in general dental practice are covered by what regulations?
Department of health publication
Health technical memorandum
HTM 01-05
HTM01-05 is a working document, what does a working document mean?
it will be updated as evidence of better techniques and systems when they become available.
Essential quality requirements are:
the basic level of decontamination standards that all workplaces should have implemented within the first year of the publication of the document.
Best practice is:
gold standard to be aimed for in the future
-use of a washer disinfector
-separate facility for decontamination tasks- away from clinical area
-separate storage area for sterilised instruments - away from clinical area
Who oversees dental practice in regards to patient safety and decontamination?
CQC
The code of practice on the prevention and control of infections was introduced under what regulation?
health and social care act 2008
-CQC use this criteria to decide if a dental workplace is compliant with all infection control requirements.
What is direct cross infection?
the transfer of infection from person to person
What is indirect cross infection?
from person to equipment and onto a second person
What is the system of standard precautions designed to do?
protect staff from inoculation and contamination risks and also to protect patients from being exposed to the risk of cross infection.
Routine procedure for all patients
The basic principle of cross infection is to?
assume that any patient may be infected with any micro-organism and could pose a risk to patients and staff.
What type of people are called carriers?
patient who is infected with a micro-organism but not showing any signs of disease - unaware of the risk they pose to others.
Best practice dictates that good general infection control is achieved by what, list examples:
- up to date written infection control policy in place
- standard precautions are used for all patients
- correct cleaning and disposal
-validation, maintenance and testing of all decontamination equipment in accordance with the manufacturers instructions.
What are the current personal infection control protocol procedures to be followed by staff?
- Hepatitis B vaccination
- Immunised against current common illnesses
- correct hand cleaning procedure`s
- PPE
HTM 01-05 infection control policy update, what does the clinical governance require use to do?
written infection control policy
Examples of how we can minimise blood borne virus transmission to ourselves as nurses:
-Hepatitis B vaccination
-Safer sharps are used where reasonably practicable
-sharps injury policy
Examples of cleaning machines:
washer disinfector
ultrasonic bath
rinsing
manual cleaning
How are instruments inspected after cleaning?
illuminated magnifier
Examples of sterilisation machines:
- vacuum autoclave B or S type
- non vacuum autoclave n type
unwrapped instruments can be stored in a non clinical area for how long?
1 week
What does social cleanliness mean?
clean to a socially acceptable standard for personal hygiene purposes.
NOT disinfected or sterilised
What does disinfection mean?
process used to kill or inactive bacteria and fungi but not spores
What does sterilisation mean?
process of killing all micro-organisms and spores to produce asepsis
What does Asepsis mean?
The absence of all living pathogenic micro-organisms