Precautions in Healthcare: Understanding Standard and Transmission-Based Precautions

Introduction to Precautions

• The video introduces the topic of precautions in healthcare, focusing on standard precautions and transmission-based precautions. A quiz is available for viewers to test their knowledge at the end of the video or in the description.

Importance of Transmission-Based Precautions

• Emphasis is placed on understanding how diseases are transmitted, specifically through airborne, droplet, or contact routes. Knowledge of required personal protective equipment (PPE) for each type is crucial for safety.

Overview of Standard Precautions

• Standard precautions are applied universally to all patients to protect both healthcare workers and other patients from potential infections. This includes hand hygiene and appropriate PPE usage at all times.

Key Components of Standard Precautions

• Hand hygiene must be performed before and after patient contact, especially after wearing gloves or touching surfaces in a patient's room. Use soap and water or hand sanitizer as needed.

• Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) includes gloves for fluid contact, gowns for clothing protection, goggles/masks/shields when exposure to fluids is possible during procedures like suctioning or mouth care.

Detailed Look at Hand Hygiene

• Hand hygiene practices include using soap and water when hands are visibly soiled, before eating, after using the bathroom, or if caring for a patient with diarrhea-related illnesses such as C. difficile or norovirus.

Understanding Airborne Diseases

• Airborne diseases spread through respiratory droplets that remain suspended in the air; these droplets can contain infectious germs that survive drying out processes unlike droplet-transmitted diseases which do not persist as long. An N95 mask is necessary due to the small size of airborne particles that can be inhaled directly into the respiratory tract. Examples include chickenpox (varicella) and tuberculosis.

Special Considerations for Airborne Diseases

Airborne, Droplet, and Contact Precautions in Infection Control

Airborne Precautions Overview

• The mnemonic "airborne chicken number 95 dissected her tubby mealworms" helps remember airborne diseases and required PPE.

• Key components include: Chickenpox (chicken), N95 mask (number 95), disseminated herpes zoster (dissected her), tuberculosis (tubby), and measles (mealworm).

• Patients under airborne precautions must be in a negative pressure room with special ventilation to prevent the spread of infectious particles.

• These rooms perform six to twelve air changes per hour, maintaining lower pressure than surrounding areas to contain droplet nuclei.

• If patients need to leave their room, they must wear a surgical mask for protection.

Droplet Precautions Overview

• Diseases transmitted via droplets are larger than airborne particles and typically travel about three feet when someone coughs or sneezes.

• Notable diseases include influenza, meningitis, whooping cough, parvovirus B19, and pneumonic plague among others.

• A mnemonic for droplet diseases is "who's adjustable droplet mask salt scary pneumatic fluid parasite playing plaguing distinguished German men my epic moms Rhonda."

• Each word corresponds to a disease or precaution: Whooping cough (who), adenovirus (adjustable), streptococcal pharyngitis (sorceress), etc.

• When providing care under droplet precautions, always wear a surgical mask along with gloves and gown; goggles may also be necessary during close contact procedures.

Contact Precautions Overview

• Contact precautions are essential for diseases transmitted through direct or indirect contact with the patient or their environment.

• Common conditions requiring contact precautions include MRSA, VRE, C. diff infections, norovirus, rotavirus, and hepatitis A.

Infection Control and Precautions in Patient Care

Overview of Infection Types and Precautions

• Various infections can be transmitted through stool, including skin infections such as scabies, herpes simplex, chickenpox, diphtheria, and shingles. Patients with chickenpox and disseminated herpes zoster require both airborne and contact precautions.

• A mnemonic is introduced to help remember infection types: "dawn" for medical gloves during contact precautions. Each letter represents a specific type of infection:

• Diarrhea infections

• Medication-resistant drugs

• Gloves worn at all times when caring for these patients.

• The mnemonic continues with:

• Skin infections (e.g., scabies)

• Pulmonary infections like RSV or influenza

• Eye infections such as conjunctivitis.

Protocols for Patient Care

• It is essential to follow standard protocols based on the patient's condition. Ideally, patients should be placed in single rooms; if not possible, they may share a room with another patient who has the same disease.