CH.4 Infection Control Flashcards
About how many patients develop a healthcare associated infection
4%
How are infections categorized?
Where it originated
Community onset
those that develop outside the hospital.
Nosocomial or Hospital onset
those that develop in the hospital.
Health care-associated infections (HAI)
refers to infections that develop in a patient during the course of medical treatment.
Infection Protection Programs (IP)
Help decrease hospital-acquired infection. They commonly organize and coordinate the hospital.
What are the 3 spread of transmission
- A source or reservoir of pathogen
- A route of transmission for the pathogen
- A susceptible host
Sources of Infection Agents
- Humans are the personal source
2.Inmate objects
3.People who contaminate their local hospital environment
4.People
What is a susceptible host
Susceptibility and resistance to infection vary greatly
Host factors increasing the chance of infection
Who is susceptible host that is most impacted by
- Poorly controlled diabetes mellitus
- Extremes of ages
- underlying acquired HIV
- Latrogenic- we can give it to them.
chemotherapy
placement of tubes and catheters
What are the modes of transmission
- Contact (direct and indirect
- Droplets
- Airborne
Contact Transmission
Most common route
Direct contact
Occurs less frequently than indirect in the care environment
Indirect contact
The most frequent mode of transmission in the healthcare environment
Droplet transmission
A form transmission via respiratory droplets
3 feet rule
How is it generated?
Respiratory droplets are when an individual is coughing, sneezing, or talking.
Airborne Transmission
Occur via the spread of airborne droplet nuclei.
These are small particles of evaporated droplets.
They last for a longer period of time in the air.
Travel a longer distance.
Obligate Transmission
Under natural conditions, disease occurs after transmission only through airborne aerosols.
example- TB
Preferential Transmission
Natural infection results from transmission through multiple routes but airborne is predominates.
example- Measels
Opportunistic Transmission
Microorganisms that cause diseases through other routes-droplet or contact but during certain environmental conditions may be transmitted by airborne.
Example- Sars
Other Transmission
Not involving person-to-person
Contaminated food, water, or medication
Creating a Safe Culture
Starts by the creation by leadership, at all levels of culture of safety to patients and health care workers
Comprehensive Unit-Based Safety Program
survey for employees to help an organization assess its culture. to report errors and mistakes at the hospital
Employee immunization and Chemoprophylaxis
other efforts to protect health care workers
Standard infection prevention
Eliminate pathogen.
Recommended practices for cleaning and
disinfecting noncritical surfaces in patient care
areas
The 2 major removal of environmental pathogens
- General Sanitation measures
- Specialized equipment processing
General Sanitation measures
helps keep the overall environment clean at a safe level.
Specialized Equipment processing
to decontaminate equipment capable to spreading infection.
Eliminating the Source
Bactericidal- kills bacteria
Bacteriostatic- methods and techniques that inhibit the growth of bacteria
Sporicidal- destroys spores
Virucidal- destroys virsus
Interrupting Transmission
Health care personnel must take measures to
stop infection
Best practice recommendations by
Healthcare Infection Control Practices
Advisory Committee (HICPAC) and the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC)
Standard Precautions
– the simplest level of infection control
– the primary strategy for the prevention of health care-associated transmission of infection
–healthcare work should employ PPE
Types of Standard Precautions
–hand hygiene
–gloves
–mouth eye protection, face shields
–respiratory protection
–gowns
–patient care equipment
–occupational health and blood-born pathogens
–patient placement
Cough Etiquette
–education of health care personnel, patients, and visitors
–posted signs in language appropriate to the population served with instructions for patients and accompanying family members or friends
–source control measure: covering the mouth and nose with a tissue when coughing or placing a surgical mask on a coughing person when possible
–hand hygiene after contact with respiratory secretions
–spatial separation( less than or equal to 3 feet from persons with respiratory infections in common waiting areas
Transmission-Based Precautions: contract precautions
–intended to reduce the risk for transmission by direct or indirect contact with the patient or the patient’s environment
Transmission-Based Precautions: Droplet precautions
–employed for patients with presumed or confirmed infection with organisms known to be transmitted by respiratory droplets
Transmission-Based Precautions: airborne infection isolation
– isolation techniques intended to reduce risk of selected infectious agents transmitted by “small droplets” of aerosol particles
–use N-95 respirator
–room must be negative pressured to have air exchanges per hour, and use HEPA filters
Transport of infected patients
–limit the transport of patients with contagious disease
–the patient needs to wear appropriate barrier protection
–if manually ventilating during the transport of a patient on respiratory precautions, ensure that a filter is placed on the expiratory side of the manual resuscitator device
Cleaning
–is the first step in all equipment processing
–removing dirt and organic material
–failure to clean equipment properly can render all subsequent processing efforts ineffective
–soaps and detergent need to be used
–noncritical items, such as commodes, intravenous pump, and ventilators surfaces, must be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected before use with another patient
Disinfection
–destroys vegetative form of all pathogens except bacterial spores
–disinfection can involve either chemical or physical methos
pasteurization is most common physical method
Chemical disinfection
–involves application of chemical solutions to contaminated equipment or surfaces
–equipment must be immersed in solution for set period of time
–many chemical methods used to disinfect respiratory care equipment
–labels should be read carefully and instructions properly followed during use
Sterilization
–destroys all microorganisms
–can be achieved with physical and chemical approaches
Steam sterilization
–most common and easiest
–low temperature sterilization technologies include ethylene oxide: colorless and toxic gas
—– less the 60 C
–medical devices contacting sterile body tissues or fluids are critical items and should be sterile before use
Immediate use Sterilization
–previously referred to as flash sterilization
–item is placed in an open tray or a specially designed container to allow for rapid penetration of steam
–not recommended as a routine method of sterilization
