Medical Asepsis Flashcards
What is Asepsis?
- Absence of disease-causing microorganisms
- Using all methods to prevent infection/break the chain of infection
What is Medical Asepsis?
- Clean technique
- Practices designed to reduce the number, growth, & spread of disease-causing microorganisms
What is Surgical Asepsis?
- Sterile technique
- Absence of microorganisms
What are Resident/Normal Flora?
- Microorganisms that live in an area of the body without causing disease
Compare Medical Asepsis vs. Surgical Asepsis
Include: Meaning, Examples, and When to Use
Medical Asepsis: (Clean Technique)
- Procedures/practices that MINIMIZE the number and transfer of pathogens
- EX: PPE (Gloves, Gowns, Goggles) and preforming Hand Hygiene
Surgical Asepsis: (Sterile Technique)
- Procedures/practices the keep areas FREE from pathogens
- Patient Bedside Uses:
-> Insertion of Urinary Catheter
-> Sterile Dressing Changes
-> Preparing/Injecting Medicine - Other Uses:
-> Operating Room
-> Labor & Delivery
-> Diagnostic Testing Areas
________ is the MOST EFFECTIVE way to prevent the spread of infetious agents
Hand Hygiene
T/F: Healthcare providers clean their hands more than half of the times they should
False: Healthcare workers clean their hands less than half of the time they should
How can education intervention be effective in increasing the number of people using correct hand hygiene practices?
Education Intervention provides more information regarding hand hygiene practices and can show other the correct technique to hand washing
In regards to hand hygiene what do you do when:
- hand NOT visibly soiled: ______________
- hands ARE visibly soiled: ___________
- after using restroom: _____________
if hand NOT visibly soiled
- Alcohol-based hand rubs reccommened
if hands ARE visibly soiled ( with blood/bodily fluids):
- Hand washing with soap and water
After using the Restroom:
- Wash hands with soap and water
When would you use of alcohol based hand gels?
MEHB: MAN EVERYONE HATES BEENA
- Moving from contaminated body site to clean body site (providing PT care)
- Entering/Exiting rooms: “Swish” in and “swish” out of room
- Hands are not visibly soiled
- Before/after gloving
Accordign to the World Health Organization (WHO),
What are the Five Moments for Hand Hygiene?
- Moment 1 – Before touching a patient
- Moment 2 – Before a clean or aseptic procedure
- Moment 3 – After a body fluid exposure risk
- Moment 4 – After touching a patient
- Moment 5 – After touching patient surroundings
A new graduate nurse, Abby, is starting their first day in a hospital setting. As you wash your hands along side each other, you notice that Abby has long acrylic nails as well as multiple rings on all fingers. How can Abby’s cosmetic choices affect her hand hygiene? Select all that apply
A. Abby’s rings allow bacteria to harbor under their surface.
B. Abby increases the risk of transmission of infections to patients.
C. Abby’s nails interfere with effective hand hygiene techniques.
D. Abby is by far cooler than any other nurse in the hospital
A, B, & C
Nurse should cut their nails to a length of _____.
1/4 of an inch
A student nurse is performing Hand Hygiene. As they perform Hand Hygiene, they use hot water and the water flow is high. They claim that the hot water feels better on their skin and that the harsher water pressure washes away all microorganisms. What mistakes did the student nurse make? Why should avoid making these mistakes
Hot water instead of Warm water:
- Hot water can irritate and dry out the skin.
High water flow/pressure instead of Medium water flow/pressure:
- High water flow/pressure can cause splashback and cause contamination
Why is it important to have the water flow from your wrists to your fingertips?
- The fingertips are considered the dirtiest parts of the hand.
- The water flows from less contaminated area to a more contaminated area.
When perfoming Hand Hygiene with soap and water, you should wash your hands for ____ seconds
20 seconds
What areas need to be thoroughly scrubbed when performing correct hand hygiene?
- 1 in. above contaminated area
- Back of the hands
- In-between fingers
- Knuckles
- Wrists
- Fingernails
- Thumbs
What are the steps to correct Hand Hygiene (soap and water)?
- Don’t let clothing touch sink. Use warm water and appropriate water pressure/flow
- Wet hands (allow water to flow from wrist to finger tips)
- Apply soap and rub hands throroughly. Make sure to scrub: Back of Hands, FIngertips, Thumbs, Inbetween Fingers, knuckles, 1 in. above contaminated area
- Rinse hands and pat dry with paper towels
- Turn off faucet using different paer towel
How long should you wash your hands if they are visibly soiled or its the first time washing your hands at the beginning of your shift?
Wash hands for 2x the length: 40 seconds
Which type of Hand Hygiene should be used if a PT has diarrhea or C. diff?
ALWAYS wash hands with soap and water
NEVER USE ALCOHOL BASED GELS
According the CDC,
What should you do if a PT has C. diff?
Include Treatment, Precaution Type, Room Precaution & Transfer Precaution
- TX: Prescribe ABX cautiously
- Precaution Type: Contact precautions (PPE; gloves and gown), effective hand hygiene (soap and water)
- Room precaution: Private Room and nondisposale equipment must be cleaned with bleach (or other appropriate disinfectant)
- Transfer precaution: notify new facility about C. diff infection (when PT is transfering out of facility)
What are the correct steps for Donning PPE?
- Identifty what PPE to use
- Perfom Hand Hygiene
- Start with Gown
- Open gown away form you
- Hold near the top (neck line) and put on
- Tie around waist and neck (make sure scrubs not exposed)
4. Put on Mask: - Droplet Transmission - Regular surgical mask
- Airborne Transmission - N95 (need to be fit-tested)
-> Inhale: feel mask for suction
-> Exhale: Feel for bulging or leakage
- Faceshield or goggles
- Hand Hygiene
- Gloves
What are the correct steps for Doffing PPE?
- Start with gloves
- Dirty to Dirty
- Clean under dirty - Take off gown
- Untie waist and neck strap.
- Grab gown from the inside of the neck from the back side and take off - Come out of PT area and Hand Hygiene
- Face Shield or Goggles
- Side of faceshield and goggles considered clean - Take off mask
