Infection Control and Routine Practices

Routine Practices and Infection Control Measures

Routine practices represent the foundational infection control standard that must be applied with every patient, regardless of their diagnosed or suspected infection status. Key elements of routine practices include maintaining hand hygiene, utilizing risk-based personal protective equipment (PPE), implementing source control measures such as covering coughs, drainage, and wounds, practicing safe sharps management, performing environmental cleaning, and communicating identified infection risks to any receiving facility during patient transfers.

Hand hygiene must be performed at critical touchpoints during healthcare delivery. Specific required indications for hand hygiene include before and after patient contact, after exposure risks to body fluids, immediately after glove removal, and after coming into contact with the patient's surrounding environment.

Personal Protective Equipment Indications

Personal protective equipment must be chosen based on the assessed risk of pathogen exposure and transmission routes. Masks are indicated to protect against droplet exposure and are frequently paired with eye protection. Respirators, specifically N95 respirators, are required when encountering airborne or aerosol risks and high contamination risks.

Gowns are required during activities that present splash, spray, or extensive contamination risks. Gloves must be worn when coming into contact with blood, body fluids, or contaminated surfaces. Eye protection is specifically designated to protect against splash, spray, or instances where a patient is coughing close to the face.

Chain of Infection

The chain of infection describes the step-by-step process required for an infectious disease to spread, consisting of six interconnected links: infectious agent, reservoir, portal of exit, mode of transmission, portal of entry, and susceptible host.

An infectious agent is defined as a disease-causing organism, which includes pathogens such as bacteria, fungi, viruses, and parasites. The reservoir is defined as the place where the pathogen lives and multiplies; examples of reservoirs include people, water, and animals.

The portal of exit is the mechanism or pathway by which the pathogen leaves the reservoir. The mode of transmission defines how the pathogen spreads from the reservoir to a new host. The portal of entry is the pathway through which the pathogen enters a new host, leading directly to the susceptible host who receives the infection.

Contact Transmission Mechanisms

Contact transmission is divided into direct and indirect mechanisms based on how physical contact occurs between the pathogen source and the host. Direct contact transmission involves direct person-to-person transfer of pathogens. Indirect contact transmission occurs through contact with an intermediate contaminated surface or item of equipment.