Safe practice, risk management and infection control
Safe practice, risk management and infection control
This domain tests everyday safety: infection prevention, incident reporting, open disclosure, manual handling and equipment. Expect practical questions on standard precautions, hand hygiene, PPE and sharps.
Core concepts
- Standard precautions apply to all patients: hand hygiene, PPE, safe sharps, spills management and waste segregation.
- Follow the five moments for hand hygiene; clean hands before and after patient contact, after body fluid exposure and after touching surroundings.
- Perform risk assessment before manual handling and use equipment or assistance to reduce injury.
- Report incidents and near misses; disclose harm openly and apologise as part of open disclosure.
- Clean and check equipment between patients and follow local policy for infectious cases.
Worked example
During a home visit you notice a used sharps bin overflowing and a blood spill on the floor. You stop, protect yourself, contain the area, follow spill policy and report the hazard. Reasoning: the risk is to the patient, whānau and staff; containment and reporting prevent further exposure.
Traps
- Removing PPE in the wrong order or forgetting hand hygiene.
- Recapping needles or leaving sharps unattended.
- Not reporting a near miss because no one was harmed.
- Using equipment without cleaning or checking.