Chapter 1. Infection Control
1.8 Summary
Infection control and prevention practices are a critical component of patient safety in the healthcare environment. In order to protect the public and cut healthcare costs, all healthcare professionals must take part in preventing infections before they occur. The use of routine practices, effective hand hygiene techniques, additional precautions, and sterile procedures contribute to enhancing patient safety and eliminating significant healthcare risks such as healthcare-associated infections. If effectively applied, infection control and prevention practices will prevent and minimize transmission of infections in healthcare settings.
Key Takeaways
- Hand hygiene is the single most important part of infection prevention and control practices in the healthcare setting.
- Plan your care: Each healthcare worker is responsible to perform a risk assessment before every contact with a patient and/or patient’s environment to ensure the proper control measures are in place to prevent transmission of infections.
- The most common sites for HAIs are the urinary tract and the respiratory tract. It is vital to implement preventive measures at all times during patient care or during procedures related to these areas.
- Be aware of potential risk factors of patients that make them more susceptible to infections. Susceptible patients include very young children; patients who are elderly, nutritionally deficient, or chronically ill; patients undergoing medical treatments such as chemotherapy or taking medications such as high doses of steroids; and individuals who are already ill or have open wounds (Perry et al., 2014).
- Be aware how the chain of infection works and implement ways to break the chain of infection in practice.
- Practice strict adherence to the principles of asepsis to prevent and minimize infections during sterile and invasive procedures.
Suggested Online Resources
- BC Centre for Disease Control: Blood and body fluid exposure management. This resource outlines risk assessment and guidelines for potential exposures of percutaneous, permucosal, and non-intact skin to HIV, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C.
- British Columbia: Home and community care – Policy manual. This manual offers guidelines for working in the community and residential care.
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Antibiotic/antimicrobial resistance. This resource covers common viruses/bacteria found in the healthcare setting, such as:
- Clostridium difficile infection (CDI)
- Carbapenemase-producing organisms (CPO)
- Multi-drug-resistant organisms (MDRO) or antibiotic-resistant organisms (ARO): MRSA/VRE
- Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)
- Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS)
- Ebola virus disease (EVD)
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Guidelines for disinfection and sterilization in healthcare facilities. The goal of this document is to reduce the rates of healthcare associated infections. Each recommendati