What are the Standard Precautions?

The chain of infection can be broken by taking the following standard precautions.

Hand hygiene

One of the most effective measures in the prevention of transmission of infection and reducing HCAIs is improving hand hygiene. Hand hygiene can be performed using:

Soap and water
Hand sanitisers
Ensure that you are aware of, and follow, guidelines in your local organisation for hand hygiene

Management and safe disposal of clinical waste

You have a duty to ensure that clinical waste is disposed of in a safe and appropriate way. The colour-coded system used to segregate healthcare waste is as follows:

Purple: Cytotoxic/cytostatic waste, must be incinerated by licensed facility
Yellow: Infectious waste, must be incinerated
Orange: Infectious waste, can be treated to render safe prior to disposal
Yellow/black: Offensive/hygiene waste, can be land filled on licensed site
Black/clear: Domestic waste, may be land filled/recycled

Ensure you follow your local policy on waste management as the colour code system for bags could differ in your locality.

Cleaning and decontamination

A dirty/contaminated clinical environment is one of the factors that contributes to HCAIs. Decontamination is a combination of the following processes:

Cleaning
Disinfection
Sterilisation

This destroys or removes micro-organisms and makes equipment safe to re-use. It is important to use correct cleaning/disinfection products when cleaning equipment or an environment.

Management of body fluid spillages

This includes blood, faeces, vomit, urine and pus, all of which may contain disease-causing micro-organisms. These are hazardous to health and therefore there is a need to follow the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) Regulations. It is the responsibility of all staff to act promptly when encountering such spills. Staff must follow local policy and ensure only those authorised to do so tackle the spill. General best practice includes:

Use a spillage kit if available
Cordon off the area and deal with the spillage as soon as possible
Use PPE equipment
Follow the correct cleaning procedure according to your organisation's policy
Ensure that all waste generated is clinical waste; this kind of waste should be discarded as infective waste stream

Management of laundry

Used linen can harbour large numbers of potentially infectious agents. Precautions need to be taken at all stages of linen management:

Storage
Handling
Bagging
Transporting
Laundering

Ensure that you know and follow your local policy for the management of linen and clothing.

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

PPE is designed to protect healthcare

workers from exposure to potentially

infectious material. It also prevents ongoing transmission of infection material to patients.

Make sure you know and use the

appropriate PPE for the situation.

PPE equipment includes:

Gloves
Aprons/gowns
Masks
Protective eyewear

This is not an exhaustive list. It is your responsibility to use PPE in line with local policy and the requirements of your role.

Management of sharps injuries

A sharps injury is an incident in which a sharp instrument penetrates the skin
The main risk from a sharps injury is the potential exposure to infections such as blood-borne viruses (BBV) such as hepatitis B (HBV), hepatitis C (HCV) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)

What to do if you receive a sharps injury which may be contaminated:

Encourage the wound to gently bleed, ideally holding it under running water
Wash the wound using running water and plenty of soap
Don't scrub the wound whilst you are washing it
Don't suck the wound
Dry the wound and cover it with a waterproof plaster or dressing
Seek urgent medical advice as effective prophylaxis (medicines to help fight infection) are available
Report the injury to your employer

Safe Use and Disposal of Sharps

Safe use and disposal of sharps

'Sharps' are needles, blades, stitch cutters, scalpels and other medical instruments that are necessary for carrying out healthcare work and could cause an injury by cutting or pricking the skin
Don't use a sharp if you don't have to
Safer sharps devices must be used and, if not, then a risk assessment must be completed to acknowledge this and minimise risk of injury to the practitioner
Never re-sheath a needle
Ensure correct assembly of the sharps container
Dispose of sharps in an approved container at the point of use
Don't exceed the fill limit
Ensure the correct disposal of the container

Remember to refer to your local protocol and training regarding the safe disposal of sharps and the management of healthcare waste in your trust or organisation.

Hand Hygiene

There are ‘5 moments for hand hygiene’:

· Before touching a patient
· Before clean/aseptic procedures
· After body fluid exposure/risk
· After touching a patient
· After touching patient surroundings

To achieve effective hand hygiene, follow the ‘bare below the elbows’ dress code. Avoiding wearing:

· Jewellery (especially rings with stones)

· Long nails, nail varnish and false nails

· Wrist bands

· Wrist watches

· Long sleeves

All healthcare workers should be bare below the elbow when working in clinical areas or delivering direct patient care.

One of the most effective measures in the prevention of transmission of infection is improving hand hygiene. Hand hygiene can be performed using:

· Soap and water

· Hand sanitisers

Ensuring you are aware of and follow the guidelines in your organisation for hand hygiene.

Regular and correct hand washing is vital to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19).

Select play to watch the video.

Do you know the most frequently missed areas when washing your hands?

Antimicrobial Resistance

Antibiotics are essential for treating many infections but they’re losing their effectiveness
Bacteria are fighting back by changing and finding ways of surviving the effects of our medicines
The bugs are smart - they can naturally become resistant to antibiotics over time, but we are making it worse because of overuse and misuse of our medications
This is already a risky situation and it will only get worse if we do not take urgent action
Examples of resistant bacteria include Meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and extended-spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBLs) like E. coli and Klebsiella

We can prevent the emergence of resistant bugs by using antibiotics correctly, and preventing their spread by following infection prevention and control procedures.

Is Your Personal Health and Fitness a Risk to Others?

Have you got an infection?

Take precautions to protect patients and colleagues from infection
Contact shared services if you have any concerns

Do you have direct patient contact?

Protect against communicable diseases, i.e. TB, hepatitis B and C, HIV, flu

Staff should ensure they are up to date with their immunisations

Have you come into contact with an infectious disease?

Report it immediately
Contact your shared services if you have any concerns

Don’t feel well?

Don’t attend work if it will affect your health and/or the health of others.
Please follow the sickness policy.

Diarrhoea? Vomiting?

Stay off work until you are symptom free for 48 hours
Report your sickness via the policy.

Session Summary

Key Points

Healthcare-associated infections are often preventable
All staff have a responsibility to follow infection prevention and control procedures all of the time
Wherever they work in the healthcare community, staff must follow appropriate national and local guidelines/policies and safe systems of care
Don’t forget to regularly practise good hand hygiene to protect your health and reduce the risk of spreading infection

Next Steps

Continue to the Infection Prevention and Control Level 1 eAssessment. This should be completed to demonstrate the required knowledge and understanding and to complete the training. Remember to also familiarise yourself with local procedures.

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