Infection Control
What candidates must know
The chain of infection has six links: infectious agent, reservoir, portal of exit, mode of transmission, portal of entry, and susceptible host. Breaking any link prevents spread. Hand hygiene is the single most important step, performed before and after resident contact, after gloves, and after touching surfaces or body fluids.
Standard precautions apply to every resident: treat all blood and body fluids as infectious. Use gloves for contact with fluids, gowns for splashes, masks and eye protection when splatter is possible, and never recap a used needle. Follow transmission-based precautions as posted: contact, droplet, or airborne, with the correct PPE and dedicated equipment. Clean, then disinfect shared equipment between residents.
Traps in questions
- Using alcohol rub for a resident with C. difficile or norovirus. Use soap and water, because alcohol does not kill spores.
- Wearing gloves in place of hand washing, or washing gloved hands.
- Removing PPE in the wrong order. Remove gloves first, then goggles, gown, and mask last, with hand hygiene after.
- Carrying soiled linen against your uniform or setting it on the floor.
- Taking a blood pressure cuff from an isolation room to another resident.
- Reporting to work with an open draining wound or a fever.
Worked rule
Remember the sequence gloves off first, mask last, clean hands after. The rule of thumb: if you would not want it on your hands, do not let it touch a clean surface, and wash your hands before you touch your face or leave the room.