Infection Prevention: Standard Precautions
Presented by Lisa A. Gorski
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This course provides home care and hospice clinicians with the essential knowledge required to understand issues relative to infection and infection prevention. Infections are often an underestimated home care problem. The home is a unique setting that presents with distinctive challenges as compared to hospitals and other inpatient settings. The Medicare Conditions of Participation and accreditation organizations require that home care agencies maintain an infection control program that includes surveillance, infection identification, prevention, and control of infections. Part I of this course begins with an overview of issues specific to home care and infection control. The remainder of the course focuses on application of standard precautions as applied in the home care setting.
Meet your instructor
Lisa A. Gorski
Lisa A. Gorski has worked for 40 years as a clinical nurse specialist (CNS) and educator for Wheaton Franciscan Home Health & Hospice, now part of Ascension at Home, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. As a CNS, she has played a key role in the home infusion therapy program, contributing to clinician education, policy and procedure…
Chapters & learning objectives
1. Overview: Infection Prevention and Control and Home Care
Preventing infections among the home care patient population is a critical priority for home care organizations. As of 2018, the Medicare Conditions of Participation require that agencies establish, document, and maintain a home health infection control and prevention program with a goal of preventing and controlling infections and communicable diseases. This section includes a brief history of infection control and home care and highlights issues unique to infection control in the home setting.
2. Standard Precautions: Focus on Hand Hygiene
Hand hygiene, a component of standard precautions, is critically important to the prevention of infections, yet health care workers across all settings are not consistently compliant with its performance. The transmission of infection via hands is reviewed and guidelines for handwashing with soap and water and hand hygiene using an alcohol-based hand rub are described and demonstrated in this chapter.
3. Standard Precautions: Focus on Personal Protective Equipment and Respiratory Hygiene
Continuing on with the components of standard precautions, the use and application of personal protective equipment and respiratory hygiene are addressed. It is important that all home care workers have PPE readily available at all times and know when to use PPE. Proper donning and removal of PPE is demonstrated in this chapter.
4. Standard Precautions: Safe Injection Practices
Safe injection practices include attention to aseptic technique and single-patient-use supplies. The differences between single-dose and multidose vials are addressed.
5. Standard Precautions: Handling, Cleaning, and Disinfecting of Home Care Worker and Patient Care Equipment/Devices
The discussion regarding standard precautions continues with attention to patient care equipment and device use. Cleaning versus disinfection and noncritical versus semicritical and critical medical devices are defined in this chapter. It is important for home care workers to recognize the risk of microbial transmission from commonly used equipment, including mobile phones and computers. The patient care environment poses risks as well, including floor surfaces and other frequently touched environmental surfaces. Cleaning and disinfection practices are provided.
