Infection control review

INFECTION CONTROL REVIEW HEALTH SCIENCE 2014-15

STERILE TECHNIQUE • WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU SHOULD DO WHEN SETTING UP A STERILE FIELD? • WASH HANDS • WHEN STARTING TO PUT ON STERILE GLOVES, THE HEALTH CARE WORKER CAN TOUCH WHICH PART OF THE GLOVE? • INSIDE CUFF OF THE FIRST GLOVE

• WHEN WORKING WITH A STERILE FIELD, WHAT IS THE SIZE OF THE BORDER THAT IS CONSIDERED NOT STERILE? • 1-2 INCHES

• WHAT HAPPENS IF SOMETHING SPILLS ON A STERILE FIELD? • THE ENTIRE FIELD IS CONTAMINATED

• IF YOU ARE PLACING STERILE DRESSINGS ON A STERILE FIELD, AND YOU NOTE THAT THE STERILE TOWEL IS WET, WHAT DO YOU DO? • KNOW THAT THE SUPPLIES ARE NOW CONSIDERED CONTAMINATED. • IF A PERSON REACHES OVER A STERILE FIELD, IS IT CONTAMINATED? • YES

• IS IT SAFE TO USE THE CONTENTS OF A STERILE PACKAGE IF THE TAPE HAS NOT TURNED COLOR? • NO • WHERE DO YOU HAVE TO KEEP YOUR HANDS WHEN YOU ARE STERILE? • IN FRONT OF YOU, AND ABOVE THE WAIST.

MRSA • IS MRSA MORE CONTAGIOUS THAN OTHER TYPES OF STAPHYLOCOCCUS? • YES • IS MRSA SPREAD THROUGH THE AIR? • NO; RARELY

• DOES MRSA INFECT ANYONE WHO COMES IN CONTACT WITH IT? • NO • IF YOU WEAR GLOVES WHEN CARING FOR MRSA PATIENTS, DO YOU HAVE TO WASH YOUR HANDS AFTER YOU REMOVE THE GLOVES? • YES!

• IS MRSA HARD TO STAMP OUT ONCE IT’S ESTABLISHED IN A HEALTHCARE FACILITY.

• YES • IF SOMEONE IS COLONIZED WITH MRSA, WILL THEY EVENTUALLY BECOME INFECTED? • NOT ALWAYS

• IF A PATIENT HAS OPEN WOUNDS, DOES IT MAKE IT EASIER FOR MRSA TO ENTER THE BODY? • YES

• ARE MOST CASES OF MRSA THE RESULT OF PATIENT TO PATIENT CONTACT, OR HEALTHCARE WORKER TO PATIENT CONTACT? • HEALTHCARE WORKER TO PATIENT

• ARE PATIENTS WHO ARE SERIOUSLY ILL AT HIGHER RISK OF MRSA INFECTION?

• YES. WHY? • BECAUSE THEY HAVE A SUPPRESSED OR COMPROMISED IMMUNE SYSTEM

VRE • IS IT NECESSARY TO DISINFECT EQUIPMENT SUCH AS THERMOMETERS, BP CUFFS, AFTER BEING USED ON A PATIENT WITH VRE? • ABSOLUTELY! EVERY TIME.

• DOES VRE INFECT EVERYONE WHO COMES IN CONTACT WITH IT? • NO

• IF A PATIENT HAS A PRESENCE OF ENTEROCOCCI IN THEIR GI TRACT, IS THAT A SIGN OF INFECTION? • NO; THAT BACTERIA LIVES IN THE GI TRACT, BUT SOMETIMES CAUSES AN INFECTION. • CAN VRE ONLY BE SPREAD BY HEALTHCARE WORKERS? • NO; IT CAN BE SPREAD BY CONTACT WITH CONTAMINATED PATIENTS OR EQUIPMENT

• IF THE HOSPITAL LABORATORY DETERMINES THAT VRE IS PRESENT IN A CULTURE, WHAT SHOULD THEY DO?

• IMMEDIATELY REPORT IT • SHOULD PHYSICIANS PRESCRIBE VANCOMYCIN WHENEVER POSSIBLE? • NO; ONLY WHEN ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY

IMMUNITY AND VACCINATIONS • WHAT IS THE TERM FOR ONE’S OWN ABILITY TO FIGHT OFF DISEASE? • NATURAL IMMUNITY • WHAT IS ACQUIRED IMMUNITY? • THE BODY DEVELOPS SPECIFIC ANTIBODIES IN RESPONSE TO BACTERIA, VIRUS, TOXINS, FOREIGN TISSUES.

• WHAT CELLS DIRECT THE BODY’S IMMUNE SYSTEM? • LYMPHOCYTES

• WHAT DO MACROPHAGES DO? • THEY DESTROY OLD, DAMAGED AND DEAD CELLS IN THE BODY

• WHAT IS THE FOREIGN SUBSTANCE THAT TRIGGERS THE BODY TO MAKE ANTIBODIES? • ANTIGEN • WHAT IS PASSIVE IMMUNITY? • IMMUNITY ACQUIRED THROUGH THE PASSAGE OF ANTIBODIES FROM A MOTHER TO THE FETUS / INFANT

• WHAT IS AN AGENT INTRODUCED INTO THE BODY TO STIMULATE ANTIBODY PRODUCTION? • A VACCINATION OR IMMUNIZATION • WHAT IS AN ATTENUATED VACCINE?

• A VACCINE IN WHICH THE ORGANISM HAS BEEN WEAKENED

• WHAT IS THE DISEASE THAT CAUSES PAINFUL TIGHTENING OF MUSCLES, LEADING TO ‘LOCKJAW’? • TETANUS • WHAT IS THE TERM FOR ‘WHOOPING COUGH’?

• PERTUSSIS

• WHICH HEPATITIS IS FOUND IN STOOL, AND CAN BE SPREAD BY CLOSE PERSONAL CONTACT OR BY EATING FOOD OR WATER THAT IS CONTAMINATED BY IT?

• HEPATITIS A • HOW IS HEPATITIS B SPREAD?

• THROUGH CONTACT WITH BLOOD AND BODY FLUIDS OF AN INFECTED PERSON

• HOW DO YOU GET LYME DISEASE? • FROM BEING BITTEN BY AN INFECTED TICK • WHAT DOES THE MMR VACCINE PROTECT YOU FROM? • MEASLES, MUMPS, RUBELLA

• WHAT IS MENINGITIS, AND WHO SHOULD RECEIVE THE VACCINE TO PREVENT IT? • AN INFECTION IN THE LINING OF THE BRAIN AND SPINAL CORD; MILITARY RECRUITS, COLLEGE STUDENTS, THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN EXPOSED; TRAVELERS • WHICH VACCINE IS NO LONGER GIVEN, DUE TO THE DISEASE BEING ERADICATED? • SMALLPOX

• IF YOU HAVE HAD CHICKENPOX, WHICH DISEASE CAN YOU GET LATER IN LIFE? • SHINGLES • WHICH VACCINE SHOULD YOU GET TO PREVENT CHICKENPOX? • VARICELLA

• WHICH VACCINE SHOULD A PERSON GET LATER IN LIFE IF THEY HAVE HAD CHICKENPOX IN THEIR LIFETIME? • SHINGLES VACCINE