CD Lecture 4

Question 1

What to do for a needle stick injury?

Answer 1

Take action immediately

Question 2

What action should you take when getting a needle stick injury?

Answer 2

1. Wash the area (soap and water)
2. Alert your supervisor (initiate the injury report system)
3. Identify the source patient (patient may need to be tested)
4. Report to the employee health service
5. Give consent for baseline testing
6. Get post-exposure prophylaxis for HIV (start medication within 2 hours)
7. Follow up with post-exposure testing (6w, 3m, 6m, 1y)
8. Document the exposure (for record purposes)

Question 3

What are the standards pre-cautions for the prevention of transmission of infections?

Answer 3

1. Hand hygiene - use a plain soap or alcohol-based hand wash/ wash immediately after gloves are removed/ wash after touching blood, body fluid, or contaminated items.
2. Gloves- wear non-sterile gloves/ Change gloves between tasks/ Remove gloves after use
3. Mask, eye protection, face shield- wear an N95 mask
4. Gown- wear a clean non-sterile gown
5. Patient care equipment- do not reuse equipment on another patient until it has been cleaned.
6. Linen- handle, transport and process used linen in a correct manner (to prevent skin and mucous membrane exposure, contamination of clothing and transfer of micro organisms to other patients)
7. Occupational health and blood borne pathogens- do not reuse needles/ ventilation devices for mouth-to-mouth resuscitation/ dispose needles and syringes correctly
8. Patient placement- isolate a patient who contaminates the environment or does not maintain appropriate hygiene

Question 4

how does the human body defend itself against harmful micro-organisms?

Answer 4

non- specific and specific defense mechanisms

Question 5

what does non-specific defense mechanism consist of?

Answer 5

first-line defense and second line defense