MA Infection Control

the most important means of preventing the spread of infection; a routine procedure uses plain soap to remove soil and transient bacteria; hand antisepsis requires the use of antimicrobial soap to remove, iill or inhibit transient microorganisms; do this for 1 to 2 minutes

• wearing a mask

• handwashing

• PPE

• applying gloves

Personal Protective Equipment; masks, goggles, face shileds, respirators, etc., provide a barrier against infection to the person wearing it; proper disposal will assist in slowing the spread of infection

• hand sanitizer

• handwashing

• Barrier Protection

• Optional Equipment

assists employers in providing a safe and healthy working environment for their employees; developed the Bloodborne Pathogens Standard which must be followed by any employee with occupational exposure to pathogens; went into effect in 1992 to reduce the ristk of exposure to employees exposed to infectious disease

• OSHA

• CLIA

• AMCA

• Joint Commission

used for delicate items and those with moving parts; sound waves move through the cleaning solution to clean the item

• washing

• disinfecting

• sanitizing

• ultrasonic cleaning

a technique used to destroy many but not all pathogenic organisms such as spores; caustic chemicals are used to disinfect medical equipment that is not able to be autoclaved; types of disinfectants include sodium hypochlorite (household bleach 1:10 soultion), alcohol, iodophors, glutaraldehyde, and formaldehyde

• disinfection

• sterilization

• sanitization

being free of disease-producing microbes

• asepsis

• clean

• sterile

• dirty

the practice of removing or destroying pathogens and to prevent pathogens from spreading from one person or place to another; clean technique

• disinfection

• sterilization

• medical asepsis

• surgical asepsis

the practice that keeps items free of all microbes; the process of destroying all microbes

• disinfection

• sanitization

• medical asepsis

• surgical asepsis

the process of becoming unclean

• disinfection

• sanitization

• contamination

• surgical asepsis

the scrubbing of instruments with special brushes and detergents to remove blood, mucous, etc

• disinfection

• sanitization

• contamination

• surgical asepsis