RT 208 UNIVERSAL PRECAUTION

UNIVERSAL PRECAUTION FLASHCARDS BY YJV

Nosocomial Infections

- Infections acquired in the course of medical care

- Infections contracted in an acute care hospital, patients in extended care facilities, outpatient clinics, & behavioral health institutions

- Infections contracted at birth by infants of infected mothers

Iatrogenic Infection

A nosocomial infection that results from a particular treatment or therapeutic procedure

events may lead to physical, mental, or emotional problems or, in some cases, even death

Exogenous Infection

- Infections or disease originates outside the body

- When a commensal organism enter places it should not be

- When a pathogen comes from other source.

• pathogenic organisms

• radiation

• chemicals

• trauma

• electric shock

• extreme temperature

Examples of pathogens that comes from other source:

Endogenous Infection

- Infection or disease originates within the body

- Disease can occur when microbes included in normal bacteria flora enter a sterile area of the body such as the brain or muscle.

- EX: When a residential bacterium E. coli of the GI tract enters the urinary tract. This causes a urinary tract infection

Environment

Therapeutic Regimen

Equipment

Contamination during medical procedures

Factors that encourage nosocomial infections:

1. Age

2. Heredity

3. Nutritional Status

4. Stress

5. Inadequate rest and exercise

6. Personal Habits

7. Health History

8. Inadequate Defenses

Factors that Increase the Patient’s potential for nosocomial infections

Bloodstream and the urinary tract

common sites of nosocomial infections

Microorganisms

 Living organisms that are too small to be seen with the naked eye

 Do not fit into the plant or animal kingdom

The Protista Kingdom

3rd Kingdom

includes bacteria, fungi, protozoa, helminths, viruses and prions

Protists

are simple eukaryotic organisms that are neither plants nor animals or fungi.

Prokaryotic Cell

 have plasma membranes, cytoplasm, ribosomes, a cell wall, DNA, and lack membrane-bound organelles.

 Ex. Bacteria, archaea

Eukaryotic Cell

 are organisms whose cells have a nucleus enclosed within a nuclear envelope.

 Ex. Plants, Animals, Fungi & Protists

Normal Microbial Flora

Microorganisms that live on or inside the body without causing infections or diseases

Aid in skin preservation and digestion & protect us from harmful organisms that can cause infections or diseases

Pathogens

Microorganisms that cause infections and diseases

Bacteria

o Colorless, minute, one-celled organisms with a typical nucleus

o Contains both DNA & RNA

Cocci

Spherical

Bacilli

Rod-shaped

Spirilla or Spirochetes

Spiral

No definitive Shape

Pleomorphic

Fungi

Cells that require an aerobic environment to live & reproduce

“Candida Albicans”

Yeast

Molds

Fungi exists in 2 forms:

Yeast

single-celled, reproduce by forming buds 2. Molds – multic

Molds

multicellular, reproduce by spore formation

Parasites

• An organism that lives on or in a host organism at the expense of the host organ

• A large number of these produce disease, and they are classified as protozoa & helminths.

Protozoa

Complex single-celled microorganisms that generally exist as free-living organisms

Often parasitic & are able to move from place to place

May be classified as motile (moving) or nonmotile

“Amebiasis, giardiasis, malaria”

Helminths

Parasitic worms (flatworms, roundworms)

Worm-like parasites that survive by feeding on a living host to gain nourishment and protection

Can live in the human intestinal tract for long periods if not treated

Viruses

Must be viewed with an electron microscope

Smallest microorganisms known to produce disease in humans

Genetic material can be either dna or rna but never both

Cannot survive independently

Prions

o Smallest & least understood of all microbes | 1983

o Present in brain but may mutate and become an infectious disease

o A protein that does not contain DNA or RNA

o Capable of automatically transforming healthy proteins in nerve cells into more prions

o Most common form of prion disease that affects humans is Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD)

urinary tract infection

E. Coli which normally inhabits the human intestinal tract, does not cause disease there, however if it gains entrance to the urinary bladder, it can cause a ________

1. An infectious agent

2. A reservoir of available organisms

2. An environment in which the pathogenic microbes can live & multiply

3. A portal of exit from the reservoir

4. A means of transmission

5. A portal of entry into a new host

Elements needed to transmit infection

Pathogenicity

Refers to the causative organism’s ability to cause disease

Virulence

Refers to the causative organism’s ability to grow & multiply with speed

Invasiveness

The organism’s ability to enter tissue

Specificity

Characterizes the organism’s attraction to a particular host

Indirect Contact

o Transfer of pathogenic microbes by touching objects (fomites) that have been contaminated by an infected person.

o These objects include dressings, instruments, clothing, dishes, or anything containing live infectious organisms.

Droplet Contact

o Involves contact with infectious secretions that come from the conjunctiva, nose, or mouth of a host or disease carrier as the person coughs, sneezes, or talks.

o Droplets can travel from approximately 3 to 5 feet.

Vehicles

o May also transport infection.

o Route of transmission includes food, water, drugs, or blood contaminated with infectious microorganisms.

Airborne Route

o Residue from evaporated droplets of diseased microorganisms suspended in air for long periods of time

o Residue is infectious if inhaled by a susceptible host

Vectors

o Insect or animal carriers of disease

o They deposit the diseased microbes by stinging or biting the human host.

Direct Contact

o When a person or an animal with a disease or his blood and bodily fluids are touched

o Touching with hands

o Kissing

o Sexual intercourse

1. Persons with chronic diseases such as diabetes mellitus or cancer

2. Immune-suppressed persons

GREAT RISK OF ACQUIRING INFECTIONS

Immune System

o The body has highly complex immune system that reacts to specific invaders that are able to bypass the nonspecific body defenses by forming antigens.

o Made up of special organs, cells and chemicals that fight infection

Antigens

o The body has highly complex immune system that reacts to specific invaders that are able to bypass the nonspecific body defenses by forming antigens. o Made up of special organs, cells and chemicals that fight infection

Antibodies

A protein substance produced by a particular white blood cell, the lymphocyte or more specifically the B cell.

1. The Joint Commission

2. Occupational Safety and Health Administration

3. Center For Disease Control and Prevention

4. World Health Organization

INSTITUTIONS THAT CONTROLS SAFETY OF PATIENTS, WORKERS, AND THE GENERAL PUBLIC

The Joint Commission

Sets requirements for hospital safety, infection control practices, & patient care standards (QAQC) that must be met if the institution or agency is to receive an accreditation.

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

A federal agency that protects workers & students from work-related injuries & illnesses, inspects work sites, and makes & enforces regulations concerning workplace safety

Center For Disease Control and Prevention

Performs research & compiles statistical data concerning infectious diseases, develops immunization guidelines & administers OSHA & OSHA’s research institute, the NIOSH (National Institute of Occupational Safety & Health).

World Health Organization

Works under UN to reduce famine & disease throughout the world. Compiles information concerning infectious diseases from all countries & compiles this information into reports for every country.

1. Dress in the workplace – Fingernails, Jewelry, Shoes & Freshly laundered clothing

2. Hair – Short hair or tie in a bun

3. Hand hygiene – 15 second hand washing

Infection Control Practices in Healthcare settings

2005

CDC published revised guidelines for infection control for all persons working in health care settings.

Standard Precaution

Tier 1

- Used at all times when any health care worker is caring for a patient

- Prevent spread of infection are used daily for all persons cared for in all heath care settings

Transmission-Based Precaution

Tier 2

- Designed to place barrier to the spread of highly infectious disease between persons with (suspected) communicable diseases and the persons caring for them

- Category-specific guidelines

Isolation Precaution

are meant to separate the patient who has contagious illness from other hospitalized patients & from the health care workers.

Airborne Isolation

Method of transmission occurs when microbes are spread on evaporated droplets that remain suspended in air or are carried on dust particles in the air and may be inhaled by persons in that room or air space

Air currents carry microorganisms, and special air handling and ventilation are required to prevent infectious microbes from circulating.

1. SARS

2. Smallpox

3. Tuberculosis

4. Varicella “Chicken pox”

5. Rubeola

Diseases spread by airborne route:

Droplet Isolation

- Transmission occurs when droplets contaminated with pathogenic microorganisms are placed in the air from a person infected with a droplet-borne infections.

- When a patient sneezes, coughs, talks, or deposits infection from his or her eyes, nose, or mouth in other ways, and these droplets are inhaled or internalized in other ways to an uninfected person

- It does not spread for more than 3 feet by coughing, sneezing or talking.

1. Influenza

2. Rubella

3. Mumps

4. Pertussis (whooping cough)

5. Pneumonias

6. Diphtheria

7. Pharyngitis

8. Scarlet fever

9. Meningococcal meningitis

Diseases spread by droplet transmission:

Direct Contact

Indirect Contact

Contact Isolation

Direct Contact

Occurs when a susceptible person actually touches an infected or colonized person’s body surface in an area where infectious microbes are present.

Colonization

Presence of microorganisms on the skin or body surface of an individual who has no symptoms of the disease.

Indirect Contact

 Occurs when a susceptible person touches or comes into contact with an object that has been contaminated with infectious microorganisms.

 Ex. thru a fomite/vector

1. Drug-resistant wound infections

2. Gastroenteritis

3. Hepatitis A

4. Herpes Simplex

5. Herpes Zoster

6. Impetigo

7. Scabies

8. Respiratory/ Skin disease

9. Cellulites

10. Conjunctivitis

Diseases spread by contact routes: