Unit 3: Infection Control, Oxygenation, Skin Integrity & Wound Healing

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering principles of infection control, oxygenation, respiratory assessments and devices, skin integrity, pressure injury risk assessment, and surgical wound care management.

Normal Flora

Microorganisms that normally inhabit specific body sites without causing disease under standard conditions.

Colonization

The presence and growth of microorganisms on host tissue without causing tissue damage, invasion, or clinical symptoms of infection.

Opportunistic Infection

An infection caused by organisms that typically do not cause disease in healthy individuals but take advantage of a host with compromised immune defenses or disrupted natural barriers.

Chain of Infection

The six-link cycle required for an infection to develop: Infectious Agent, Reservoir, Portal of Exit, Means of Transmission, Portal of Entry, and Susceptible Host.

Medical Asepsis

Clean technique focused on reducing the number, growth, and spread of pathogenic microorganisms (e.g., hand hygiene and barrier precautions).

Surgical Asepsis

Sterile technique designed to eliminate all viable microorganisms, including spores, from an area, surface, or piece of equipment.

Contact Precautions

Transmission-based isolation measures used for pathogens spread by direct or indirect patient contact (including multidrug-resistant organisms), requiring a private room or cohorting, with healthcare workers donning a gown and gloves.

Droplet Precautions

Transmission-based precautions for infectious agents expelled in large droplets that travel $3\text{--}6\,\text{feet}$ (e.g., rubella, diphtheria, pertussis, mumps), requiring a surgical mask and keeping visitors at a $3\text{-foot}$ distance.

Airborne Precautions

Isolation precautions for small airborne droplet nuclei that remain suspended over extended periods (e.g., tuberculosis, measles, varicella-zoster), requiring a private room with negative airflow, closed doors, and the use of an N95 or HEPA respirator by staff.

Neutropenic Precautions

A protective environment (reverse isolation) with positive airflow designed to protect severely immunocompromised patients (such as chemotherapy or stem cell transplant recipients) by prohibiting fresh flowers, potted plants, fresh fruit, raw vegetables, and standing water.

PPE Donning Order

The sequential procedure for putting on personal protective equipment: Gown first, followed by Mask, Goggles, and finally Gloves.

PPE Doffing Order

The sequential procedure for taking off contaminated personal protective equipment: Gloves first, followed by Goggles, Gown, and finally Mask.

One-Inch Sterile Border

The outer $1\,\text{inch}$ perimeter surrounding any sterile drape or wrapper that is considered contaminated and non-sterile.

Hypoventilation

A respiratory state characterized by a decreased rate and depth of respiration, leading to carbon dioxide retention.

Hyperventilation

An increased rate and depth of breathing causing the lungs to eliminate carbon dioxide faster than metabolic production.

Hypoxia

A condition of inadequate cellular and tissue oxygenation throughout the body.

Early Signs of Hypoxia

Clinical indications of acute oxygen deficiency including restlessness, anxiety, confusion, agitation, inability to concentrate, elevated heart rate, elevated respirations, and elevated blood pressure with a narrow pulse pressure.

Late Sign of Hypoxia

Cyanosis, a bluish discoloration of the skin and mucous membranes indicating severe, prolonged deoxygenation.

Orthopnea

An abnormal condition where a patient experiences dyspnea when lying flat and must assume an upright or sitting position to breathe comfortably.

Tenacious Sputum

Respiratory secretions that are notably thick, sticky, and difficult to expectorate.

Hemoptysis

The expectoration or coughing up of blood or blood-tinged sputum originating from the respiratory tract.

Pulse Oximetry

A non-invasive monitoring method that measures arterial oxygen saturation, with expected normal readings between $95\text{--}100\%$ ($90\%$ in chronic cardiopulmonary conditions).

Allen Test

A diagnostic assessment of ulnar collateral arterial circulation performed prior to radial artery puncture for blood collection.

Arterial Blood Gas (ABG)

A diagnostic blood specimen obtained from an artery to evaluate acid-base balance and gas exchange by quantifying $\text{pH}$, $\text{PaO}_2$, $\text{PaCO}_2$, and $\text{HCO}_3^-$.

Peak Flow Meter

A handheld portable monitoring device used to measure Peak Expiratory Flow Rate to assess airway obstruction and the severity of asthma symptoms.

Thoracentesis

The surgical perforation of the chest wall and pleural space with a needle to aspirate pleural fluid for diagnostic or therapeutic relief of a pleural effusion.

Bronchoscopy

The visual examination of the tracheobronchial tree using a flexible or rigid fiberoptic bronchoscope inserted through the nose or mouth.

Flutter Valve

A mucus clearance device that provides positive expiratory pressure and high-frequency airway vibrations during exhalation to mobilize pulmonary secretions.

Chest Drainage System

A closed collection apparatus (such as an Atrium unit) connected to an intrapleural catheter to drain air, blood, or fluid while re-establishing negative intrapleural pressure.

Face Tent

A loose-fitting oxygen shield fitted around a patient's jaw and chin, providing high humidity and oxygen therapy for individuals who cannot tolerate tight facial masks.

Venturi Mask

A high-flow oxygen delivery apparatus that uses entrainment ports and removable color-coded adapters to mix room air and pure oxygen to deliver a precise, fixed concentration of oxygen.

Primary Intention Healing

Wound closure occurring in clean incisions with closely approximated edges secured by sutures or staples, healing with minimal tissue destruction and a fine hairline scar.

Secondary Intention Healing

Wound healing that occurs in irregular open wounds with extensive tissue loss, which heal from the base upward through granulation tissue formation, epithelial coverage, and larger scar formation.

Tertiary Intention Healing

Delayed primary wound closure in which a contaminated or deep open wound is initially left open to observe or granulate, followed by late surgical suturing once the infection clears.

Inflammatory Phase of Wound Healing

The initial wound healing stage characterized by hemostasis, clot formation, vasodilation, local debridement, erythema, heat, edema, and pain.

Proliferative Phase of Wound Healing

The second phase of wound healing dominated by vascularization, synthesis of granulation tissue, and epithelial cell resurfacing across the moist wound bed.

Maturation Phase of Wound Healing

The final stage of tissue repair involving collagen remodeling and scar strengthening over months to years, which never regains full pre-injury tensile strength.

Wound Dehiscence

The unintended partial or complete separation of closed surgical incision margins.

Wound Evisceration

A severe surgical emergency characterized by the total disruption of all wound layers accompanied by the protrusion of internal visceral organs through the opening.

Fistula

An abnormal passage or channel communicating between two internal cavities, organs, or from an internal structure to the external skin surface.

Tunneling

A narrow tract or pathway of tissue destruction extending in any direction from the wound margin into the deeper subcutaneous tissue or muscle plane.

Undermining

Tissue destruction occurring under intact skin along wound margins, producing an open shelf or lip beneath the edges.

Serous Drainage

Clear, watery, straw-colored plasma fluid draining from a healing wound.

Sanguineous Drainage

Bright red, bloody wound drainage indicating active, fresh vascular or capillary bleeding.

Serosanguineous Drainage

Pale pinkish to light red watery drainage composed of a mixture of serum and red blood cells.

Purulent Drainage

Thick, opaque, yellowish, greenish, or brownish exudate containing white blood cells, cellular debris, and bacteria, usually indicating active infection.

Penrose Drain

An open, passive, flexible rubber tubing placed directly into a wound cavity to allow drainage to seep onto outer dressing pads, often secured with a safety pin.

Hemovac Drain

A closed-suction system featuring a spring-loaded circular chamber that maintains low, constant negative pressure to collect larger volumes of wound exudate.

Jackson-Pratt (JP) Drain

A closed, portable negative-pressure drain consisting of an internal perforated tube connected to a bulb reservoir that is manually compressed to evacuate wound fluid.

Braden Scale

A standardized clinical risk assessment tool for pressure ulcer development evaluating six categories: Sensory Perception, Moisture, Activity, Mobility, Nutrition, and Friction and Shear.

Negative Pressure Wound Therapy (Wound VAC)

An active wound management system using a computerized pump to apply continuous or intermittent negative pressure to a sealed foam or gauze dressing to pull wound edges together and stimulate granulation.

Calcium Alginate Dressing

An absorptive wound dressing manufactured from natural seaweed fibers that converts into a gel when exposed to exudate, utilized for moderately to heavily draining wounds.

Enzymatic Debridement

The clinical application of topical biochemical agents (such as collagenase Santyl ointment) to digest and chemical break down necrotic, devitalized tissue in the wound bed.