Infection control and prevention is an evidence-based approach that helps to prevent patients and health workers from getting any harm.
Moreover, it helps to avoid any infection that can occur as a result of antimicrobial resistance, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC.
It is important to note that no one should catch an infection while getting or receiving health care, yet, these infections can spread through outbreaks and any regular practices.
As the field of infection prevention continues to grow in importance and science supporting it continues to evolve, this guide helps you to facilitate the prevention and control of infections.
Furthermore, it can help control measures across different resource levels to improve quality care, minimize risks, save lives, reduce costs, and even limit the use of antibiotics to fight off such preventable infections.
Keep on reading to learn more about it in detail.
Infection Control and Prevention
Infection control and prevention is a set of activities that your team performs for the prevention and control of infectious diseases and healthcare.
These can be associated with infection, and HAIs in the healthcare environment as we, according to the centers for disease control.
IPC also helps to lower the incidence and spread of infectious diseases.
If you develop IPC programs, then they are comprehensive and include surveillance and prevention activities and staff training.
However, it is important to note that they also help to promote and effectively implement standards of infection prevention and control, i.e. IPC.
It is important to note that the purpose of such programs in healthcare is:
- preventing the transmission of HAIs between patients, healthcare workers, and visitors
- preparing healthcare facilities to detect early outbreaks of HAIs, respond promptly and manage such situation
- prepare to manage and respond to epidemics of emerging infectious diseases in the community and healthcare facilites
- to maximixe coordiantion and response with community health colleagues to better coordinate and respond to large-scale epidems
- prevent the transmission of antimicrobial resistance organisms, AMR
While it is also important to note that the minimum requirements of an IPC program are:
To develop IPC standards, process, and practices that helps to prevent the transmission of HAIs and AMA in the healthcare facility.
Manage epidemics according to the expected outcomes, detect and manage outbreaks of HAIs with expected outcomes, and implement lessons learned.
Moreover, to have good compliance with process and work practices that depend on IPC standards.
Have ongoing targeted surveillance with the desired aim to reduce the incidence and risk of preventable HAIs.
Also, have mandatory training of all staff on IPC standards.
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The 10 Standard Infection Control Precautions, SICP
Let’s discuss the standard infection control precautions as follows:
Patient Assessment for Infection Risk
In this step, you must assess your patients for any infection risks before you accept them into your organization.
And continuously while they are under your care.
It is important to note that this assessment will influence your decision on how to proceed with the treatment plan.
For instance, in the case of COVID-19, the symptoms in 2019 were high temperature and persistent cough, according to the Disease Control and Prevention. CDC.
Hand Hygiene
One of the most important SICPs is trying to reduce the spread of infections.
Your hands are the part of your body that are most likely to come in contact with people around you, surfaces, and equipment, along with pathogens that live there.
Moreover, it is important to note that viruses are visible to the naked eye.
This means that you will not always know what germs are harboring on your hand.
Therefore, decontaminating your hands as quickly and as thoroughly as possible is critical.
It is important to wash your hands properly as an essential part of your job.
Pro Tip: The use of physical or chemical means to remove, inactivate, or destroy pathogens on a surface or item to the point where they are no longer capable of transmitting infection.
And the surface or item is rendered safe for handling, use, or disposal.
Respiratory and Cough Hygiene
The aim of this one is to prevent reduce and prevent the risk of cross-transmission of respiratory illness and pathogens like COVID-19.
It is important to follow the rules below to help stop the spread of infection through coughs and sneezes:
- cover the nose and mouth with a disposable tissue when sneezing, coughing, wiping, and blowing the nose
- disposal of all used tissues as quickly as possible into the waste bin
- washing hands with liquid soap and water after coughing, sneezing, using tissues, or after contact with respiratory secretions or anything that may be contaminated by these secretions.
- keep the hands contaminated with respiratory secretions away from eyes, nose, and mouth
You can help promote respiratorily and cough hygiene with the patients as well.
Thus, make sure to provide tissues, plastic bags, and handwashing stations with all help.
PPE, Personal Protective Equipment
This equipment helps to prevent or reduce the spread of infections.
Make sure to assess the likely exposure to the infection and you also ensure PPE that you wear PPE that provides enough protection you from the risks.
Safe Management of Equipment
Any equipment you will use for healthcare needs to be fit for your purpose.
Just like you buy a new car, it comes with a logbook, service history, and receipts of any work it undergoes, the same goes for your equipment.
Furthermore, it is a good practice to keep logs of when you purchase your equipment, including manufacturer warranties and quality checks, and any maintenance or servicing documentation.
If anything goes wrong with your equipment, you will have evidence to prove it was well maintained and looked after.
Safe Management of Environment
One of the important things to note is that to your naked eye, the care environment may look clean.
The staff of the hospital polishes the floor, glist the windows, empty the rubbish cans, and there is no obvious dust on the furniture.
However, there are millions of potentially dangerous micro-organisms on the surfaces like door handles, toilet seats, rails, linen, and tables.
Thus, in such critical areas, cleaning plays an important role in reducing the risk of infection to both you and your patients.
Without these steps, microorganisms like viruses can survive and cause infection.
Disposal of Waste
Any waste your organization produces can contain living microorganisms or toxins.
And can also have the potential to cause harm, or infection in humans is hazardous waste.
It is highly unlikely that you will need to separate and segregate your waste.
Furthermore, items like used gloves, aprons, swabs, dressings, and other non-sharps that contains contaminated blood.
And bodily fluids will need segregation, if you are generating it in large amounts.
This way you can safely dispose off this waste depending in the number of things like:
- type of waste, whether it is sharp or non-sharp
- how likely it is to contain infectiuos microoganism
- quantity of the waste patients generate
Management of Blood and Bodily Fluids
Spillages of blood and other body fluids can transmit blood-borne viruses.
Also, you should decontaminate spillage immediately to undertake this safely.
Responsibilities for the decontamination of blood and body fluids spillages should be clean within each area/care setting.
Therefore, it is a good practice to make sure to access a dedicated blood/bodily fluid spillage kit.
Linen Management
For all infectious linen, that your patients use or suspect to be infectious, and/or linen that contains contaminants with blood and/or other body fluids.
Follw the steps below:
- place directly into a water-soluble/alginate bag and secure, place into a plastic bag
- used and infectious linen bags/receptacls must be tagged e.g ward/care area and date
- store all used/infectiuos in a designated, safe, locakable area while ating uplift
- make sure to uplift schedules to be acceptable to the care area and there should be no build-up linen receptacles
Occupational Exposure
The final standard infection control precation is occupational safety and exposure.
This happens when you come in contact with a potentially harmful physical, chemical, or biological agent as a result of your job.
Additionally, it can also come from a range of sources in your workplace.
And fit into three categories: biological exposure, chemical exposure, and physical exposure.
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Importance of Infection Control
Infection control is becoming increasingly important in recent times as there is a rise in the number of Hosptial-Acquainted Infections, HAIs.
Moreover, according to the estimates of WHO, about 7% of all the patients that are admitted into healthcare facilities will acquire at least 1 HAI.
According to NHS, about 18% of the COVI-19 cases are HIA, and during the first wave of pandemic, reports cite that 1 in 8 cases are a result of infections in the hospital.
In order to mitigate against any infection risks in the hospital, your healthcare staff needs to perform the above 10 Standard Infection Control and Prevention, SICP.
These infection control measures can help to minimize the speed of both known and unknown pathogens.
All healthcare personnel must perform SICPs at all times and for all patients to mitigate the risk of HAIs.
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Final Thoughts
If you are looking for infection control products, then you can look at your product page. Engiomed is a medical equipment supplier that provides you with efficient, and technologically advanced equipment and medical supplies for your healthcare settings, and clinics.
Make sure to take a look at our products and choose the products that are compatible with your needs in view. You can also search for more details.
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