Standard precautions are practices set in place within health and social care settings aiming to reduce the transmission of infection and disease. e.g. hand hygine
Standard precautions and organizational procedures within health and social care
Standard precautions are practices set in place within health and social care settings aiming
to reduce the transmission of infection and disease.
1. Hand Hygiene
The first step in preventing the risk of spreading infection is effective hand washing. Good
hand washing involves applying enough soap to cover all surfaces of your hands and
following the steps in the diagram below. After following these steps for at least 20 seconds
(two verses of happy birthday) your hands should be rinsed under running water and
thoroughly dried. The running tap should then be turned off with a paper towel and placed
into the bin, to prevent the risk of picking up germs from the tap.
Within a care setting staff should wash their hands before and after dealing with a patient
(this includes toileting, washing, assisting with getting dressed), after using the toilet, before
and after serving food, when you enter the care setting and before you leave to go home.
Alcohol rubs are only beneficial for use when the job carried out is exposed to fewer germs
and there is no visible dirt on the hands for example walking a resident to the dining hall
2. Use of PPE (Personal Protective Equipment)
This is equipment is provided by the organization to reduce the risk of transferring germs
from the care giver to the patient and vice versa. Within a care setting PPE usually
involves disposable gloves, disposable aprons, eye protection, face masks and hair nets.
These must be used if you are at any risk of coming in contact with bodily fluids. They
therefore must be used when toileting and washing patients/residents, if taking samples
from patients and with any clients that have MRSA or C. Difficile.
(http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/health/Parkland-Video-Explains-Ebola-Personal-
Protective-Equipment-279014141.html accessed 13/11/2014)
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