pt. safety and infection control Flashcards
medical and surgical asepsis
- medical asepsis refers to use the use of precise practices to reduce the number, growth and spread of micro-organisms (“clean technique”)
- it applies to administering oral medication, managing nasogastric tubes, providing personal hygiene and performing many other common nursing tasks
what should healthcare providers do before beginning any task that requires an aseptic technique?
- check for latex allergies
practices that promote medical asepsis
hand hygiene
protective clothing
physical environment
practices that maintain a sterile field
- prolonged exposure to airborne mircro-organisms can make sterile items non sterile
- only sterile items can be in a sterile field
equipment
- select a clean area above waist level in the client’s environment to set up the sterile field
- check that all sterile packages are dry and intact and have a future expiration date
- any chemical tape must show the appropriate color change
- make sure an appropriate waste receptacle is nearby
sterile field setup
- open the covering of the package per the manufactures directions, slipping the package onto the center of the workspace with the top flap
- grasp the tip of the top flap of the package, and with arm positioned away from the sterile field, unfold the top flap away from the body
- next open the slide flaps, using the right hand for the right flap and the left hand for the left flap
additional sterile packages
- open next to the sterile feild by holding the bottom edge with one hand and pulling back on the top flap with the other hand
- place the packages that will be used last furtherest from the sterile field; open these first
- add them directly to the sterile field. Lift the package from the dry surface, holding it 15cm above the sterile field, pulling the two surfaces apart, and dropping in into the sterile field
pour sterile solutions
- remove bottle cap
- hold the bottle with the label in the plan of the hand so that the solution does not run down the label
- pour the solution onto the dressing or site without touching the bottle to the site
- sterile solutions expire 24 hr after opening and recapping in some facilities
when does infection occur
when the presence of a pathogen leads to a chain of events cause infections
bacteria
staphylococcus aureus
escherichia coli
mycobacterium tuberculosis
viruses
organsims that use the host genetic machinery to reproduce hiv hepatitis herpes zoster herpes simplex virus
fungi
molds and yeasts
candid albicans
aspergillus
parasites
protozoa (malaria, toxoplasmosis)
helminths (worms, flatworms, roundworms, flukes
virulence
is the ability of a pathogen to invade and injure a host
herpes zoster
common viral infection that erupts years after exposure to chickenpox and invades a specific never tract
mode of transmission
contact
droplet
airbone
vector borne
contact
- direct physical contact: person to person
- indirect contact with an inanimate object
- fecal-oral transmission: handling food after using a restroom and failing to wash hands