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PCC > Infection Control > Flashcards

Infection Control Flashcards

1
Q

What is infection?

A

Invasion of and multiplication in the body by a pathogen (a microorganism capable of causing disease).

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2
Q

What are healthcare-associated infections (HAIs)?

A

Infections associated with healthcare given in any setting.

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3
Q

What is nosocomial infection?

A

Refers more specifically to infections acquired in the hospital.

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4
Q

What is the most common and most serious infectious HAI?

A

C. Diff

Clostridium difficile

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5
Q

What is the chain of infection what are the six links?

A

All links that must be present for the infection to be transmitted from one individual to another.

  1. Infectious Agent
  2. Reservoir
  3. Portal of Exit
  4. Mode of Transmission
  5. Portal of Entry
  6. Susceptible Host
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6
Q

What is a pathogen?

A

microorganisms that are capable of causing disease.

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7
Q

Pathogens need the following to survive: (6 Things)

A
  1. Nutrients
  2. Moisture
  3. Temperature
  4. Oxygen
  5. pH and Electrolytes
  6. Light (Microbes grow best in dark environments (e.g., inside the body, deep in wounds, and under dressings).)
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8
Q

Modes of Transmission: Direct Contact

A

involves physical contact, sexual intercourse, and contact with wound drainage, but it can involve scratching and biting.

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9
Q

Modes of Transmission: Indirect Contact

A

involves contact with a fomite, a contaminated object that transfers a pathogen.

Example: Doorknobs, Keyboards, etc.

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10
Q

Mode of Transmission: Droplet Transmission

A

pathogen travels in water droplets expelled as an infected person exhales, coughs, sneezes, or talks, or during suctioning and oral care.

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11
Q

Mode of Transmission: Airborne Transmission

A

microorganisms float considerable distances on air currents to infect large numbers of people.

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12
Q

Modes of Transmission: Vector Borne

A

organism that carries a pathogen to a susceptible host.

Example: Rats, mosquitos, etc.

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13
Q

What factors play a role in susceptible host?

A

Age (very young, very old)

Compromised immune system (immune suppression for organ transplantation or treatment of cancer)

Immune deficiency conditions (e.g., HIV, leukemia, malnutrition, lupus)

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14
Q

What is a local infection?

A

cause harm in a limited region of the body, such as the upper respiratory tract, skin, urethra, or a single bone or joint.

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15
Q

What is a systemic infection?

A

occur when pathogens invade the blood or lymph and spread throughout the body.

  • Bacteremia is the clinical presence of bacteria in the blood.
  • Septicemia is symptomatic systemic infection spread via the blood.
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16
Q

What is a primary infection?

A

the first infection that occurs in a patient.

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17
Q

What is a secondary infection?

A

one that follows a primary infection, especially in immunocompromised patients.

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18
Q

What are exogenous healthcare-related infections?

A

pathogen is acquired from the healthcare environment.

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19
Q

What are endogenous healthcare-related infections?

A

pathogen arises from the patient’s normal flora, when some form of treatment (e.g., chemotherapy or antibiotics) causes the normally harmless microbe to multiply and cause infection.

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20
Q

Define endemic

A

condition occurs at a stable, predictable rate within a particular environment, region, or population.

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21
Q

Define outbreak

A

when there is a sudden increase in the number of people with a condition that is greater than expected. Outbreaks are limited to relatively small areas (e.g., cholera after the 2010 earthquake in Haiti).

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22
Q

Define epidemic

A

outbreak of a disease that spreads over a large geographic region or in a defined population group (e.g., elderly, healthcare workers). Zika virus starting in Brazil and spreading to the Caribbean is an example of an epidemic.

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23
Q

Define pandemic

A

exceptionally widespread epidemic—that is, one that affects a large number of people in an entire country or worldwide. Examples of pandemics are SARS-CoV-2 (also known as COVID-19 or Coronavirus), H1N1 influenza 2009 (“swine flu”), and bubonic plague in the 14th century

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24
Q

Define newly identified disease

A

caused by either an unrecognized microorganism (e.g., the virus causing AIDS unknown before 1980; SARS-CoV-2 [also known as COVID-19 or Coronavirus, not previously identified before 2019]) or a known organism causing a new response (e.g., enterovirus D68, Streptococcus infection triggering toxic shock syndrome).

25
Q

What are primary defenses of the body?

A

structural barriers of the human body.

26
Q

Define secondary defense

A
  1. Phagocytosis (phagocytosis engulf and destroy pathogens directly).
  2. Complement cascade is a process by which a set of blood proteins, called complement, triggers the release of chemicals that attack the cell membranes of pathogens, causing them to rupture.
  3. Inflammation is a process that begins when histamine and other chemicals are released either from damaged cells or from basophils being activated by complement.
  4. Fever is a rise in core body temperature that increases metabolism, inhibits multiplication of pathogens, and triggers specific immune responses.
27
Q

Define active immunity

A

the body makes its own antibodies or T lymphocytes (also called T cells) to protect the body against a pathogen.

28
Q

Define passive immunity.

A

person receives antibodies that come from someone else rather than producing them through their own immune system, as in immunizations and mother’s milk.

29
Q

Define specific immunity.

A

process through which the immune cells “learn” to recognize and destroy pathogens they have encountered before. This is why people who recover from an infectious disease like measles never get the disease again, even if they are repeatedly exposed to the virus.

30
Q

Define natural active immunity

A

After a person becomes ill with an infection, the body produces its own antibodies to fight the disease-causing organism and protect from infection in the future (e.g., influenza).

31
Q

Define artificial active immunity

A

An immune response occurs when the body is exposed to weakened or dead pathogens in a vaccine. The body then makes T cells or antibodies to keep from actually developing the illness (e.g., tetanus, measles). This type of immunity offers long-lasting or even lifetime protection.

32
Q

Define natural passive immunity

A

Immunity results when natural antibodies are passed from one body to another, such as from mother to baby through the placenta, or through breastfeeding.

33
Q

Define artificial passive immunity

A

Protection from infection is achieved when a person receives serum from another person or animal that has already produced antibodies against the pathogen (e.g., serum for treatment of rabies or botulism).

34
Q

What are MDROs?

A

Multidrug-Resistant Organism (MDRO) Infections

Microbes that have mutated to develop resistance to one or more classes of antimicrobial drugs; associated with serious illness, increased hospitalization, higher death rates.

35
Q

What are the 5 stages of infection?

A
  1. Incubation: from time of infection until manifestation of symptoms; can infect others
  2. Prodromal: appearance of vague symptoms; not all diseases have this stage; most infectious
  3. Illness: signs and symptoms present
  4. Decline: number of pathogens decline
  5. Convalescence: tissue repair, return to health
36
Q

What is an acute infection?

A

rapid onset of short duration (e.g., common cold)

37
Q

What is a chronic infection?

A

slow development, long duration (e.g., osteomyelitis)

38
Q

What is a latent infection?

A

infection present with no discernible symptoms (e.g., HIV/AIDS; TB).

39
Q

Define asepsis

A

absence of contamination by disease-causing microorganisms.

40
Q

Define medical asepsis

A

procedures that decrease the potential for the spread of infections.

41
Q

Define cleaning

A

removal of visible soil (organic and inorganic) from objects and surfaces.

42
Q

Define disinfection

A

removes pathogens on inanimate objects by physical or chemical means, including steam, gas, chemicals, and ultraviolet light.

43
Q

What are the 3 levels of disinfection?

A

Chemical germicides can achieve three levels of disinfection:

  1. High-level disinfection kills all organisms except high levels of bacterial spores.
  2. Intermediate-level disinfection kills bacteria, mycobacteria, and most viruses.
  3. Low-level disinfection kills some viruses and bacteria.
44
Q

What are semicritical items?

A

those that contact mucous membranes or nonintact skin. They must be free of all microorganisms except bacterial spores, so they must at least be disinfected, and sometimes sterilized.

Examples: Reusable devices, such as flexible endoscopes, and respiratory therapy and anesthesia equipment

45
Q

What are noncritical items?

A

supplies and equipment that come in contact with intact skin but not mucous membranes. They do not carry a high risk of infection transmission, and they can be decontaminated where they are used.

Examples: Bedpans, stethoscopes, and blood pressure cuffs

Examples of noncritical environmental surfaces: Floors, food utensils, bed linens, and bedrails.

46
Q

Define sterilization

A

elimination of all microorganisms (except prions) in or on an object.

47
Q

What are critical items?

A

pose a high risk for infection if they are contaminated with any microorganism—that is, those that enter the vascular system or sterile tissue or those items through which blood flows.

Examples: IV catheters, needles for injections, urinary catheters, surgical instruments, some wound dressings, and chest tubes

48
Q

Define standard precautions

A

Standard precautions, the first tier of protection, apply to care of all patients. You must assume that every patient is potentially colonized or infected with an organism that could be passed to others in the healthcare setting.

49
Q

Define transmission-based precautions

A

Transmission-based precautions, the second tier of protection, are for patients with known or suspected infection or colonization with pathogens. Recall from the discussion on the chain of infection that pathogens may be transmitted by contact, droplet, or air. Each mode of transmission requires a different approach to prevent infection.

50
Q

Define sterile

A

“without life” and therefore no infectious organisms.

51
Q

Define surgical asepsis/sterile technique

A

creation of a sterile environment and use of sterile equipment.

52
Q

Define sterile technique

A

the use of sterile gloves and sterile supplies (e.g., drapes, wound dressings, instruments, water).

53
Q

Define modified sterile technique

A

the use of nonsterile procedure gloves with sterile supplies.

54
Q

Define clean technique

A

is the use of clean hands or nonsterile gloves and clean, rather than sterile, supplies (e.g., tap water).

55
Q

Define a surgical scrub

A

modification of the handwashing procedure described earlier (see Table 20-3 for a comparison). It traditionally involves an extended scrub of the hands using a sponge, nail cleaner, and bactericidal scrubbing agent. Another method uses a brushless scrub, using a bactericidal scrubbing agent.

56
Q

Define closed gloving

A

apply gloves using a closed method, after you have put on your gown. Once you don sterile gloves, you may touch only sterile items.

57
Q

Define open gloving

A

wear sterile gloves for procedures that do not require full surgical attire. For this, you will use the open method of gloving.

58
Q

What is OSHA?

A
  • Establishes minimum health and safety standards
  • Issued universal/standard precautions regulations
  • Reinforced CDC guidelines for universal/standard precautions
  • OSHA can make violations punishable with serve fines
59
Q

Define protective isolation

A
  • Protects the client from organisms
  • Used in special situations with immune-compromised client population

Precautions include:

  • Room with special ventilation and air filters; no carpeting; daily wet-dusting
  • Avoiding standing water in the room (e.g., humidifier)
  • Nurse not assigned to other clients with active infection
  • Standard and transmission-based precautions, plus mask and other PPE (to protect patient)

PCC (4 decks)

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