Appropriate work practices

Follow standard precautions

Use personal protective equipment Hand hygiene

Standard precautions
Standard Precautions are a set of precautions that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has called for in order to minimize the risk that you will catch an infection from a patient or spread infection among patients. You may have heard the term "Universal Precautions"--these were developed beginning in the 1980s specifically to protect you from blood borne pathogens standard Precautions basically expands upon Universal Precautions by covering more body fluids and sites, as follows: Blood Secretions, non-intact skin, body Fluids, excretions (except sweat), and mucous membranes.

Standard precautions
Standard Precautions must be observed with ALL patients at ALL times, regardless of their age, gender, diagnosis, or whether they are under isolation for a specific diseases

Personal protection in Lab:

Wear long-sleeved gowns with closed fronts or

long-sleeved lab coats that are buttoned closed while in the lab. Wear lab coats or gowns inside the lab only. Cover all non-intact skin located on parts of the body exposed to blood or body fluid

Remove all personal protective equipment before leaving the Lab or work area

PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENTS

:

Lab coat Gloves Mask Goggles Leather shoes

Gloves
Use when touching blood, body fluids, secretions, excretions, contaminated items; for touching mucus membranes and non intact skin

How to Remove Gloves (1)

Grasp outside edge near wrist
Peel away from hand, turning glove inside-out Hold in opposite gloved hand

How to Remove Gloves (2)

Slide ungloved finger under the wrist of the remaining glove Peel off from inside, creating a bag for both gloves Discard

Dos and Donts of Glove Use

Work from clean to dirty Limit opportunities for touch contamination - protect yourself, others, and the environment
Dont touch your face or adjust PPE with contaminated gloves Dont touch environmental surfaces except as necessary during patient care

Dos and Donts of Glove Use (contd)

Change gloves During use if torn and when heavily soiled (even during use on the same patient) After use on each patient Discard in appropriate receptacle Never wash or reuse disposable gloves

Hand Hygiene
Appropriate hand washing can minimize micro-organisms acquired on the hands by contact with body fluids and contaminated surfaces. Hand washing breaks the chain of

infection transmission and reduces person-to-person

transmission. Hand washing is the simplest and most cost effective way of preventing the transmission of infection and thus reducing the incidence of health-care associated infections.

Hand Hygiene (When)

Before patient contact. Before touching a patient, when approaching him/her Before an aseptic task. Immediately before any aseptic task. 2 After body fluid exposure risk. Immediately after an exposure risk to body fluid and after glove removal. After patient contact. After touching a patient and her/his immediate surroundings, when leaving the patients side. After contact with patient surroundings. After touching any object or furniture in the patients immediate surroundings (even if the patient has not been touched).

Hand Antisepsis/Decontamination
Hand antisepsis removes or destroys transient micro-organisms and confers a

prolonged effect.
Antiseptic hand washing should be done before and after aseptic procedures, before

and after dealing with an infected patient. The procedure is the same as that for social hand washing except that an antiseptic soap is used. It may be carried out in one of the following two ways:
Wash hands and forearms with antimicrobial soap and water, for 15-30 seconds

(following manufacturers instructions) and ensure complete drying.

Decontaminate hands with a waterless, alcohol-based hand gel or hand rub for 15-30

seconds until hands are completely dry. This is appropriate for hands that are not visibly contaminated.

Antiseptics
Specific antiseptics recommended for hand

antisepsis: 2%-4% chlorhexidine, 5%-7.5% povidone iodine, or 70% alcoholic hand rubs.

Steps in hand washing

Remove jewellery (rings, bracelets) and watches before washing hands Ensure that the nails are clipped short (do not wear artificial nails) Wet hands and wrists, keeping hands and wrists lower than the elbows Apply soap (plain or antimicrobial) and lather thoroughly. Use firm, circular motions to wash the hands and arms up to the wrists, covering all areas including palms, back of the hands, fingers, between fingers and lateral side of fifth finger, and

wrists. Rub for minimum of 10-15 seconds.

Repeat the process if the hands are very soiled. Clean under the fingernails. Rinse hands thoroughly, keeping the hands lower than the forearms. Dry hands thoroughly with disposable paper towel. Discard the towel in a dustbin without touching the bin lids. Use a fresh paper towel or your elbow/foot to turn off the faucet, to prevent recontamination of

hands.

Steps using antiseptics, hand rubs, gels or alcohol swabs for hand antisepsis
Apply the product to the palm of one hand.

Rub hands together, covering all surfaces of hands and fingers, until hands

are dry. Do not rinse.

Note: When there is visible soiling of hands,

wash hands with soap and water before using

hand rubs/ gel/ alcohol swabs.

Healthcare Personnel as Adult Learners

Adult learners are very different from child learners.

One reason is, unlike children, adults enter the learning process after years of personal experience. Adults have existing knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes that influence what they take from or contribute to a learning opportunity. Safety issues are an ongoing agenda item Safety training is part of staff development Change in behavior and this matters a lot

THANK YOU