Appearance and PPE Flashcards
Hair
Hair that is past the shoulders should be tied up,any loose strands to be clipped away from the face. Not only for professionalism, but also for the risk of cross-contamination between patients. if a nurse is pushing hair away from the face during treatment, this may be within the use of contaminated gloves and thus contaminates such as saliva can be passed directly to the nurse and other patients.
Nails
Nails be kept short, natural, clean, free of nail polish because untrimmed sharp nails demonstrates the risk of gloves being pierced easily leading to contaminates going inside the gloves. nail polish may harbour contaminates that cannot be visibly seen beneath their surface. longer, or false, nails may be harder to clean clinically and surgically which means hand hygiene will not be as effective as it should be when working at the chairside.
Jewellery
Wearing a ring may cause risk of safety gloves being pierced- is a hazard as contaminates can harbour inside. wrist jewellery not be worn as these cannot be protected from incidents at the chairside such as splashes and are very difficult to surgically, clinically clean. earnings must be kept small as pieces that dangle, as well as necklaces, can easily become contaminated if dangling too close whilst working at the chairside. some dental practices may also consider no facial jewellery as they may believe this is a more professional approach of a dental nurse.
Footwear
A dental nurse must wear the appropriate footwear which fully encloses the foot as protection against damage from dropped equipment, instruments or chemicals. Also, footwear must demonstrate a flat-heel to decrease the likelihood of tripping or falling in the work place
Uniform
Uniform should be provided by the employer and laundered by the dental nurse at a high temperature as well as being aware of maintenance of the uniform in that any damaged items must be discarded.the uniform must only be worn inside the clinical area and taken off before leaving work as this decreases the risk of work contamination from the day, being transferred to the general public.
Surgical gloves
worn for surgical dental procedures during the chairside. to prevent direct skin contact with contaminates and they must be changed multiple times such as when moving from a contaminated area towards a clean area and going into cupboards or drawers. When these gloves are damaged, their effectiveness is reduced- they must be disposed of. it is advised that gloves are non-powdered to avoid the development of skin conditions occurring.
Face mask
must be of surgical quality and are worn whenever dental handpieces or ultrasonic equipment is in use. This is to prevent the inhalation of aerosol contamination and flying debris whilst working at the chair side in close proximity to this equipment. These must also be single use and disposed of effectively after every patient or when soiled.
Goggles/visor
Any characteristic of eye protection must be worn when working at the chairside in the surgery as well as when performing decontamination duties. to prevent contaminant material entry such as splashing or flying debris as well as eye injury from equipment or instruments.
Heavy duty gloves
be worn whenever the cleaning of instruments is performed. This is essential as the scrubbing of instruments under water can cause splashing up towards the arms and these gloves protect from contaminates. In addition to this, such gloves help protect from sharps injuries from instruments which can be major occupational hazard if these instruments are contaminated and the dental nurse is not wearing heavy duty gloves.
