Chapter 28: Infection Prevention and Control Flashcards

A set of 50 vocabulary flashcards covering key terms and concepts from Chapter 28: Infection Prevention and Control (Potter & Perry, Fundamentals of Nursing, 12th edition).

Infection

A process in which a pathogen invades tissue, grows within a host, and produces injury.

Colonization

A state where microorganisms are present and multiplying within a host but cause no tissue injury.

Communicable Disease

An infectious process transmitted directly from one person to another.

Symptomatic Infection

An infection in which clinical signs and symptoms are present in the host.

Asymptomatic Infection

An infection in which the pathogen multiplies silently without producing clinical signs.

Chain of Infection

The organizing framework consisting of six linked components (infectious agent, reservoir, portal of exit, mode of transmission, portal of entry, susceptible host) required for an infection to develop.

Infectious Agent

Microorganisms, such as bacteria, viruses, fungi, or protozoa, capable of producing disease.

Virulence

The ability of an infectious agent or pathogen to produce disease.

Bacteria

Microorganisms that are the most common cause of health care-associated infections and may be aerobic, anaerobic, or multidrug-resistant.

Viruses

Infectious agents that require living tissue to replicate, with examples including influenza, hepatitis, HIV, and SARS-CoV-2.

Fungi

Microorganisms comprising yeasts and molds that are often opportunistic pathogens in immunocompromised hosts.

Protozoa

Single-celled parasites that are less common in acute care settings but clinically significant.

Reservoir

The site or habitat where a pathogen survives, such as human carriers, moist surfaces, standing water, food, or contaminated equipment.

Carrier

A person who harbors and transmits a pathogenic organism while showing no clinical signs of illness.

Portal of Exit

The route through which a pathogen leaves its reservoir, such as skin, mucous membranes, respiratory tract, GI tract, GU tract, reproductive tract, or blood.

Direct Contact Transmission

Person-to-person physical transfer of microorganisms between an infected host and a susceptible person.

Indirect Contact Transmission

Pathogen transfer occurring via contaminated intermediate objects such as instruments, dressings, stethoscopes, bed rails, or hands.

Droplet Transmission

Transmission via large particles carrying pathogens that travel approximately $3\text{ feet}$ through the air before settling.

Airborne Transmission

Transmission via droplet nuclei or dust particles containing pathogens that remain suspended in air currents over time.

Vehicle Transmission

Direct conveyance of infectious agents carried by contaminated items such as water, drugs, solutions, blood, or food.

Vector Transmission

Pathogen transmission conveyed by an insect or animal vector, such as mosquitoes or ticks.

Portal of Entry

The pathway by which a pathogen enters a new host, including natural portals (skin breaks, mucosa) and iatrogenic portals (catheters, IV lines, surgical incisions).

Susceptible Host

A person whose degree of resistance to pathogens is compromised due to factors like age, nutrition, stress, disease processes, heredity, or medical therapies.

Localized Infection

An infection confined to a specific body area, presenting with local pain, tenderness, redness, warmth, edema, purulent drainage, or loss of function.

Systemic Infection

An infection affecting the entire body, manifested by fever, chills, diaphoresis, malaise, fatigue, anorexia, tachycardia, tachypnea, or lymph node enlargement.

Incubation Period

The initial stage of infection from pathogen entry into the host until the appearance of the first symptoms.

Prodromal Stage

The stage of infection characterized by progressing vague, non-specific symptoms during which the patient is often most infectious.

Illness Stage

The stage of infection during which specific clinical signs and symptoms of the disease are fully expressed.

Convalescence

The final recovery stage of infection where acute symptoms resolve depending on infection severity and host health.

Normal Flora

Resident microorganisms present on or within the body that help protect against pathogens when balanced.

Inflammatory Response

A protective vascular and cellular reaction that neutralizes pathogens and supports tissue repair.

Vascular Response

The initial inflammatory phase where arterioles dilate and microvascular permeability increases, leading to redness, warmth, swelling, and pain.

Cellular Response

The inflammatory phase where white blood cells, such as neutrophils and monocytes, arrive to phagocytize pathogens.

Inflammatory Exudate

Fluid accumulation (serous, sanguineous, or purulent) that collects at an injury site to help clear dead tissue and pathogens.

Health Care-Associated Infection (HAI)

An infection acquired by a patient while receiving care in a health care facility for another condition, affecting at least $1\text{ in }25$ hospitalized patients.

Exogenous Infection

An HAI caused by microorganisms originating outside the patient rather than from their normal flora.

Endogenous Infection

An HAI occurring when a patient's normal flora becomes altered and overgrows, frequently following antibiotic therapy.

Iatrogenic Infection

A subtype of HAI resulting directly from diagnostic or therapeutic invasive procedures such as catheterization, bronchoscopy, or surgery.

CAUTI (Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infection)

A urinary tract HAI prevented by removing indwelling catheters early, keeping systems closed, and keeping drainage bags below bladder level.

CLABSI (Central Line-Associated Bloodstream Infection)

A bloodstream HAI prevented through maximal sterile barrier precautions, scrubbing the hub, and daily line necessity assessments.

White Blood Cell (WBC) Count

A laboratory blood test with normal values of $5,000\text{--}10,000/\text{mm}^3$ that rises during acute infection.

Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate (ESR)

An inflammatory lab marker with normal values up to $15\text{ mm/h}$ in men and $20\text{ mm/h}$ in women that increases during inflammatory processes.

Medical Asepsis

Clean technique practices that reduce the total number of microorganisms and prevent their spread.

Hand Hygiene

The single most effective action to break pathogen transmission, performed using alcohol rub or washing with soap and water for at least $20\text{ seconds}$.

Disinfection

A process that eliminates most pathogenic microorganisms except bacterial spores from inanimate objects and surfaces.

Sterilization

The complete destruction of all forms of microbial life, including bacterial spores, required for critical items entering sterile tissue.

Standard Precautions

First-tier infection control measures applied to all patients when in contact with blood, body fluids, non-intact skin, or mucous membranes.

Transmission-Based Precautions

Second-tier isolation precautions (Contact, Droplet, Airborne, or Protective Environment) added for patients with known or suspected transmissible pathogens.

Surgical Asepsis

Sterile technique procedures designed to eliminate all microorganisms from an object, instrument, or field.

Occupational Exposure Response

The immediate protocol following blood or body fluid exposure, starting with washing the site with soap and water or flushing eyes/mucosa with water or saline.