Transport of the patient and unnecessary movement outside the patient room should be limited. When possible, patients with transmission-based precautions should be placed in a single occupancy room with dedicated patient care equipment (e.g., blood pressure cuffs, stethoscope, thermometer). See Table 4.2 outlining the categories of transmission precautions with associated PPE and other precautions. Some diseases, such as tuberculosis, have multiple routes of transmission so more than one transmission-based precautions category must be implemented. Transmission-based precautions are used when the route(s) of transmission is (are) not completely interrupted using standard precautions alone. There are four categories of transmission-based precautions: contact precautions, enhanced barrier precautions, droplet precautions, and airborne precautions. For patients with these types of pathogens, standard precautions are used along with specific transmission-based precautions. Epidemiologically-important pathogens include, but are not limited to, Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), Clostridium difficile (C-diff), Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), Vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE), Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV), measles, and tuberculosis (TB). In addition to standard precautions, transmission-based precautions are used for patients with documented or suspected infection, or colonization, of highly-transmissible or epidemiologically-important pathogens. Sharps safety (i.e., engineering and work practice controls) 8.Īseptic technique for invasive nursing procedures such as parenteral medication administrationĮach of these standard precautions is described in more detail in the following subsections. Proper handling and cleaning of environment, equipment, and devices 6. Use of personal protective equipment (e.g., gloves, gowns, masks, eyewear) whenever infectious material exposure may occur 3.Īppropriate patient placement and care using transmission-based precautions when indicated 4. These standards reduce the risk of exposure for the health care worker and protect the patient from potential transmission of infectious organisms.Ĭurrent standard precautions according to the CDC (2019) include the following: 1. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), standard precautions are “the minimum infection prevention practices that apply to all patient care, regardless of suspected or confirmed infection status of the patient, in any setting where health care is delivered.” They are based on the principle that all blood, body fluids (except sweat), nonintact skin, and mucous membranes may contain transmissible infectious agents. Standard precautions are used when caring for all patients to prevent health care associated infections. Additional infection control measures include the appropriate use of aseptic technique and sterile technique when performing nursing procedures to protect the patient from transmission of microorganisms. Each of these strategies to keep patients and health care workers free of infection is discussed in further detail in this chapter. Standard precautions are used when caring for all patients and include performing appropriate hand hygiene wearing personal protective equipment when indicated implementing category-specific transmission precautions encouraging respiratory hygiene and following environmental infection control measures, including handling of sharps, laundry, and hazardous waste. Healthcare-associated infections can be prevented by consistently following standard precautions and transmission-based precautions outlined by the CDC (2020). Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) are unintended and often preventable infections caused by care received in a health care setting. Dispose of contaminated wastes appropriatelyĪccording to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), over 2 million patients in America contract a healthcare-associated infection, and 99,000 patients die from a healthcare-associated infection every year.Apply and safely remove sterile gloves and personal protective equipment. Use category-specific, transmission-based precautions.
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