According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Standard Precautions combine the major features of Universal Precautions (UP) and Body Substance Isolation (BSI) and are based on the principle that all blood, body fluids, secretions, excretions except sweat, nonintact skin, and mucous membranes may...
Although not part of Standard Precautions, it seems appropriate to discuss sharps handling after discussing safe injection practices in an earlier blog. While safe injection practices focus on protecting patients from poor healthcare personnel practices, this blog focuses on protecting the healthcare worker. Some Basic Information...
What went through your mind when you read this title? Perhaps you thought: “Really?” or “Seriously, in developed countries?” The reality is that more than 150,000 patients in the U.S. have been notified to seek screening for hepatitis B (HBV), hepatitis C (HCV) and Human...
How Should I Clean This? Take your pick of any type of patient care equipment in the inpatient or outpatient setting, and I have probably been asked about cleaning it. Let’s quickly review some basics. Always use an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) registered hospital grade disinfectant, which...
Cough etiquette was introduced as part of standard precautions by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the 2007 Isolation guidelines. The 2003 Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak, which resulted in the transmission of SARS to emergency department patients, visitors, and staff,...
Most of us in healthcare learned that "handwashing is the number one way to prevent the spread of infections." And yet, studies still show that hand hygiene is poor among healthcare workers. Some of the obstacles cited by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention...
Although the facility infection preventionist may be thought of as the person who always points out what is wrong, Infection Control is a complex field that touches on every aspect of patient care. This blog will touch on some of the fundamental aspects of this...
When we think of environmental monitoring, temperature, humidity, and air exchanges in the operating room (OR) and sterile processing department (SPD) usually come to mind. However, there are numerous other areas in both acute and ambulatory care settings that must be monitored. Environmental Monitoring Basics Accrediting and...
Although the infection control department isn't directly responsible for environmental cleaning, it is definitely within the scope of responsibility of the infection control department. The literature has shown that hospital environmental surfaces are frequently contaminated with multidrug-resistant organisms and Clostridioides difficile (C. diff). Hands of...
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