Medical Asepsis: Module 1 Flashcards
What is the chain of infection & what does it involve?
A sequence of components necessary for infection to occur
Infection can be prevented by breaking a component of the chain
Includes an infectious agent, reservoir, portal of exit, mode of transmission, portal of entry, and a susceptible host
What are the modes of transmission
Contact, Droplet, Airborne
Contact transmission
Occurs when microorganisms move from an infected person to another person
Can be direct (person-person) or indirect (person-contaminated object-person)
Requires gown and gloves, single patient
multidrug resistant organisms
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Droplet transmission
droplets from the respiratory tract of a patient travels through the air into the mucosa of a host
Sneezing, coughing
Surgical masks, single patient
Influenza, pertussis
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Airborne transmission
Small particles are spread through the air
Requires negative pressure rooms, and an N95 mask, single patient
Measles (rubeola) , Tuberculosis, Varicella (chicken pox/shingles), SARS.
MTVs
Nonspecific immunity
Neutrophils and macrophages function as phagocytes to engulf microorganism to protect body from harm
Neutrophils and macrophages released during the inflammation
Specific immunity
Work of antibodies (immunoglobulins & lymphocytes)
Bind to infectious agents and bring WBCs to destroy them
The inflammatory response
Protects body from infection
Stages of infection
Incubation - infection enters, initial contact to first symptom
Prodromal - onset of nonspecific general symptoms (headache)
Acute illness - sickest that the client feels, specific symptoms related to IA (red discharge)
Decline - symptoms begins to decline, IA decreases
Convalescence - patient returns to a normal state of health
Systemic infections
Begin as local infections and spread to bloodstream
Can cause sepsis
Local infections
Infections confined to one area of the body
treated with topical/oral antibiotics
Hand hygiene
Hand washing w soap and water - visibly soiled, spore infections, 15-20 seconds, 3-5 ml soap
Alcohol based hand rub - not visibly soiled
Medical asepsis
the elimination/absence of disease causing microorganisms, not all microorganisms
clean technique
prevents transmission of infection
Standard precautions
Infection prevention practices applied to ALL clients
include hand hygiene
Cough/sneeze etiquette
Proper use of PPE (gloves, gown, mask, goggles, face shield, safe injection practices)
What are the 4 major Health Care-Associated infections (HAIs)
Central Line-associated Bloodstream Infections (CLABSIs)
Catheter-associated Urinary Tract Infections (CAUTIs)
Surgical Site Infections (SSIs)
Ventilator-assisted Pneumonias (VAPs)
PPE
Nurse must assess what type of PPE to apply for each mode of transmission and unique situations
Don and doff PPE accordingly
Surgical asepsis
Complete eradication of microorganisms
4 factors to perform hand hygiene
- Intensity of contact with patient or contaminated object
- amount of contamination that occurred
- patient/healthcare worker’s susceptibility to infection
- procedure being performed
Tier Two Level of Precautions
transmission-based precautions specific to airborne, droplet, and contact transmission
Delegation
Caring for patients w isolation precautions can be delegated to AP
Nurse must inform AP of patient status, isolation indications, reason of precautions, precautions for bringing equipment in room, special precautions regarding transportation
Documentation
Document procedure performed, patient response, isolation precautions, type of microorganism, patient and family education
