Standard precautions CCC

OVERVIEW

Standard precautions are work practices that provide a first-line approach to infection prevention in the healthcare environment.

This replaces older obsolete terms that were previously used including:

• Universal Precautions, which were techniques used to minimise the risk of transmission of blood-borne infections – includes handling all body fluids, sharps and waste.
• Body Substance Isolation, which involved isolation of all body substances undergoing medical treatment (goes further than Universal Precautions and includes – hand hygiene, use gloves, gown, mask, eye protection, face shield depending on anticipated exposure)

GOAL

• to protect patient and staff from infection in the healthcare environment

KEY ASPECTS

• should be adopted by all healthcare workers in all facilities at all times
• used regardless of suspected or known infection status
• based on the principle that all blood and body fluids, secretions and excretions, may contain transmissible infectious agents

STANDARD PRECAUTIONS APPLY AT ALL TIMES

This is essential because people maybe:

• placed at risk of infection from others who carry infectious agents
•  infectious before signs or symptoms of disease are recognised or detected
• at risk from infectious agents present in the surrounding environment, including environmental surfaces or from equipment
• at an increased risk of transmission associated with specific procedures and practices

COMPONENTS

Standard precautions include:

• hand hygiene, before and after every episode of patient contact (‘WHO’s 5 moments’)
• the use of personal protective equipment
• the safe use and disposal of sharps
• routine environmental cleaning
• reprocessing of reusable medical equipment and instruments
• respiratory hygiene and cough etiquette
• aseptic non-touch technique (ANTT)
• waste management
• appropriate handling of linen

IMPLEMENTATION

• unit policy development and integration:

-> when to use protective clothing
-> care of patient linen
-> disposal of contaminated garbage
-> disposal of contaminated sharps
-> disinfection, sanitisation and sterilisation of all reusable equipment
-> housekeeping (mopping, dusting, cleaning)

• single use drug ampoules, vials and syringes
• use of disposable items (Guedel airways)
• vaccination of staff
• responsibility to team leader to ensure compliance of other staff
• education (in-service, orientation programs, posters and articles)
• adherence to 5 moments of hand hygiene
• readily availability of equipment (gloves, masks, sharps bins, eye protection)
• availability of alcohol-based hand gel
• sinks: positioning, design to allow hand-free function
• survey compliance