Stopping the cycle of transmission

As health professionals, we cannot provide health care services without some exposure to potentially infectious materials, but we can prevent transmission in many cases. The only way to prevent infections is to stop the transmission of microorganisms.

The best way to prevent infections at a health facility is by following standard precautions. These are a set of recommendations designed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to help minimize the risk of exposure to infectious materials by both clients and staff. The modules in this course give detailed explanations of how to apply the standard precautions to your everyday work in a health facility.

Summary of standard precautions:

1. Wash your hands.
2. Wear gloves.
3. Wear eye protection or face shields.
4. Wear gowns.
5. Prevent injuries with sharps.
6. Correctly process instruments and client-care equipment.
7. Maintain correct environmental cleanliness and waste-disposal practices.
8. Handle, transport, and process used/soiled linens correctly.

Standard precautions should be followed with every client regardless of whether or not you think the client might have an infection. This is important because it is not possible to tell who is infected with viruses such as HIV and the hepatitis viruses, and often the infected persons themselves do not know if they are infected.

It is safer to act as if every client is infected, rather than to apply standard precautions to some clients and not others.

 

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