Healthcare Unit 1 Test

Health

A state if complete physical, mental,a dn social well-being.

5 dimensions of health

• Physical: Body is strong and fit, free of disease.

• Emotional: Function well and adapt to circumstances, strong self-esteem, self-control, and self-awareness.

• Spiritual: Belief in a purpose greater than oneself.

• Intellectual: Keeping mind active and creative.

• Social: Having stable and satisfying relationships.

12 determinants of health

• Income and Social Status

• Social Support Networks

• Education and Literacy

• Employment and Working Conditions

• Social Supports

• Physical Environment

• Personal Health Practices

• Healthy Child Development

• Biology and Genetic Endowment

• Health Services

• Gender

• Culture

Wellness

Achieving the best health possible in 5 dimensions.

Illness

The loss of physical of mental health

Disability

The loss of physical or mental function

Acute

Severe and sudden onset

Chronic

Long-developing

Medicare

• Publicly funded health services, specifically the medically necessary services provided by a hospital or physician

• Available to all permanent residents

• Funded by the provincial and federal government

Tommy Douglas

Introduced free hospital care for much of the provincial population.

5 principles of medicare

1. Comprehensive: Insurance plan must pay for all medically necessary services.

2. Universal: Every permanent resident is entitled to receives health care services provided by the plan.

3. Portable: People can keep their health care coverage even if they are unemployed, change jobs, relocate to another province, or travel within Canada or abroad.

4. Accessible: People can receive medically necessary services regardless of their income, age, health status, gender, or geographical location.

5. Publicly administrated: Must be run by a public organization on a nonprofit basis.

What are the challenges facing healthcare today?

• Shortage of physicians, nurses and other health care workers in rural areas

• Financial issues (pharmaceuticals account for the majority of the cost increase)

• Aging population

• Long waiting times for common surgeries, diagnostics, or medical procedures

• Expensive new technology

What is being done to meet the challenges?

• Educate people about health and wellness, with emphasis on prevention

• Efforts to improve housing, decrease poverty, monitor drinking water, etc

• Cut costs by having physicians work together in a health centre (lower overhead expenses)

• Coordinate the services of various medical team members to improve efficiency

Requirements of microbes to grow

• Microbes need water and nourishment from the reservoir

• Most need oxygen to live

• A warm and dark environment is needed

• Most grow best at body temperature

• They are destroyed by heat and light

Patheogen

Harmful microbes that cause infections.

Non-patheogon

Microbes that do not usually cause an infection.

Normal flora

• Microbes that live and grow in a certain area

• They are non-pathogens when in or on a natural reservoir

• When a non-pathogen is transmitted from its natural site to another site or host, it becomes a pathogen

Bacteria

• One-celled microbes

• Can multiply quickly and if necessary remain non-active, for long periods of time, surrounded by a protective shell called a spore coat

• The spore coat can make it difficult to kill bacteria.

• Infections caused by bacteria are usually treated by antibiotics

• Some serious bacterial infections can be prevented through vaccination

Bacteria shapes

• Cocci / Coccus: Spherical bacteria

• Bacilli / Bacillus: Rod shaped bacteria

• Spirilla / Spirillum: Spiral shaped bacteria

• Diplo: Double

• Strepto: Chains

• Staphylo: Clusters

Gram Positive

• Bacteria that is purple when stained because they have a thick cell wall that absorbs the stain

• Lots of peptidoglycan

Gram Negative

• Bacteria that does not retain stain very well in their thin cell walls, and turn pink when stained

• Small layer of peptidoglycan

• Toxic and usually the bad bacteria

Viruses

• The smallest of the microorganisms

• Very difficult to destroy

• Grow and reproduce inside other living cells

• Can also remain dormant protected by a spore coat

• Spread by contact with blood and body fluids

• A few antiviral medications that can kill specific viruses are available

• Some diseases can be prevented by vaccination

Parasite

• Microorganisms that live off of other organisms, or hosts, to survive.

• Some parasites don’t affect the host.

• Others grow, reproduce, or give off toxins that make the host sick resulting in a parasitic infection.

Ex: malaria, trichomoniasis, giardiasis, cryptosporidiosis, and toxoplamosis

Fungi

• Two groups: yeasts and molds

• An organism that lives off of dead matter

• Responsible for conditions such as ringworm, athlete’s foot, thrush and yeast infections

Vaccinations

• Proven to prevent serious communicable illnesses

• Health care agencies require workers to have their routine vaccinations up to date before they start work

MROs

Microbes that can resist the effects of antibiotics.

Two common types of MROs are resistant to many antibiotics..

• MRSA: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus

• VRE: Vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus

MROs are caused by..

• Doctors prescribing antibiotics when they are not needed (over-prescribing)

• Patients not taking antibiotics for the length of time prescribed

Carriers of a pathogen

People with weakened immune systems are at greatest risk (babies, older adults, people with serious medical conditions)

Antiseptic

• Solutions that are applied directly to the skin

• They prevent or slow the growth of pathogens but they are not useful against all microorganisms

Ex: Alcohol and betadine

Disinfection

• Uses strong chemicals such as bleach and zephirin to kill many pathogens

• Used mainly on objects (bedpans, countertops, tubs, furniture, commodes, etc.) and not on skin because they may cause skin irritation or trauma

• Have limited effects against viruses and spores

Ex: Chlorine and bleach

Sterilization

• Is the best way to kill microbes and their spores

• An autoclave uses steam under pressure to sterilize medical equipment

Ex: The use of chemicals, radiation and gas

Systemic infection

Involves the whole body.

Localized infection

In a body part.

Chain of infection

• Pathogen: A microbe capable of causing

  disease.

• Reservoir: Environment where the pathogen lives before it infects a person.

• Portal of exit: The escape route.

• Mode of transmission: The way in which a pathogen is transmitted from one source to the next.

• Portal of entry: The entry point on the new host/environment.

• Susceptible host: A susceptible host is a person at risk of infection.

  A person with a weakened immune system is immunocompromised.

Pandemic

Occurs when a communicable infection spreads throughout the population of a country or even throughout the world.

Asepsis

Practices that are used to keep an area free of disease-producing microorganisms.

Medical asepsis

• Maintaining a clean environment in order to:

• Reduce the number of pathogens

• Prevent the spread of pathogens from person-to-person

• Includes hand washing, using personal protective barriers such as gloves and routine cleaning of the environment.

Surgical Asepsis

• A sterile environment in which there are no microorganisms or spores.

• Areas in the operating room are sterile

• To remain sterile, only sterile items can come in contact with other sterile items. Even if a clean object touches a sterile area, the sterile area is considered contaminated.

HAI (Health care-associated infection)

• An infection that develops in a client cared for in any setting where healthcare is given.

• HAIs also are called nosocomial infections.

• HAIs are caused by:

• Normal flora

• Microbes transmitted to the client from another source

When to use PPE

• Wear gloves whenever contact with blood, body fluids, secretions, excretions, mucous membranes, and non-intact skin is likely.

• Gowns and other attire protect your clothes and body from contact with blood, body fluids, secretions, and excretions.

• Masks are worn for protection from contact with infectious agents from the client or resident and during sterile procedures to protect the client from infectious agents carried in your nose or mouth.

• Goggles and face shields protect your eyes, mouth, and nose from splashing or spraying of blood, body fluids, secretions, and excretions.

Order for putting on PPE

1. Perform hand hygiene

2. Gown

3. Mask

4. Goggles

5. Gloves

Order for taking off PPE

1. Gloves

2. Gown

3. Perform hand hygiene

4. Goggles

5. Mask

6. Perform hand hygiene

Precautions

To prevent pathogens transmitted through blood, body fluids, secretions, and excretions.

Isolation precautions

Guidelines to prevent the spread of communicable diseases (contagious diseases).

Standard precautions

• Reduce the risk of spreading pathogens

• Reduce the risk of spreading known and unknown infections

• Are used for all persons whenever care is given

Transmission-based precautions

• 3 types: airborne, droplet and contact precautions

• Guidelines to contain pathogens in one area (usually the client’s room)

• Client usually placed in private or semi-private room to isolate his/her germs from infecting others

Droplet

• Patient should be in a private room (or placed with another patient with the same infection)

• Wear a mask when working within 3 feet of patient or upon entering the room

Airborne

• Diseases that are transmitted through air currents (ex: tuberculosis)

• Anyone entering the client’s room must wear a high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter or mask

• Room is kept under negative pressure to keep the air in the room from being drawn into the other areas.

• Door must remain closed

Contact

• Skin wound or infections that could be transmitted by direct or indirect contact

• Transmitted from skin to skin

• Must don a gown and gloves

• Careful handwashing

• Extremely important with MRSA and VRE

Disposing of Sharps

• Take precautions with any equipment or items that may pierce the skin; includes razors, blades, broken glass

• Place into a container that is:

• Tightly capped

• Puncture-resistant

• Leak proof

Infectious waste

• Cultures and stocks of infectious agents

• Wastes from infected patients

• Wastes contaminated with blood and its derivatives

• Discarded diagnostic samples

• Infected animals from laboratories

• Contaminated materials and equipment

Anatomic waste

Recognizable body parts and animal carcasses.

Disposable sharps

• Syringes

• Disposable scalpels

• Blades

Disposable chemicals

• Solvents

• Disinfectants

Pharmaceuticals are disposable if they are..

Expired, unused, and contaminated; whether the drugs themselves or their metabolites.

Genotoxic waste

Highly hazardous drugs such as those used in cancer treatment

Radioactive matter

Originates from radiotherapy treatments, that has not been properly disposed of.

Wastes with high heavy metal content

Such as broken mercury thermometers

Health impacts of medical waste

• Health-care waste is a reservoir of potentially harmful micro-organisms

• Risk of the spread of, sometimes resistant, micro-organisms from health-care establishments into the environment.

Wastes and by-products can also cause injuries:

• Radiation burns

• Sharps-inflicted injuries

• Poisoning and pollution

Producers of healthcare waste

• Hospitals and other health-care establishments

• Laboratories and research centres

• Mortuary and autopsy centres

• Animal research and testing laboratories

• Blood banks and collection services

• Nursing homes for the elderly

Risks associated with waste disposal

• Landfilling can potentially result in contamination of drinking water.

• Inadequate incineration, or incineration of materials unsuitable for incineration can result in the release of pollutants into the air.