Infection, Prevention, Control: all you need to know about standard precautions

Over the next few weeks, we will look into the infection, prevention and control (IPC); basics which protect you and your patient.

This week, standard precautions is under the spotlight - a single set of activities to be used as a minimum in the care of all patients to break the chain of infection, and reduce the transmission of micro-organisms.

The IPC standard precautions include:

• hand hygiene (five moments of hand hygiene)
• correct use of personal protective equipment (PPE)
• safe handling and disposal of waste and sharps
• safe handling of linen
• the correct decontamination of equipment and premises (including the ambulance)
• the application of an aseptic technique during invasive procedures.

IPC guidance says you should:

• presume that all body substances (blood, excreta, secretions etc.) contain infective microorganisms
• reduce the risk of infection by wearing disposable gloves and an apron when in contact with blood and body fluids and when touching mucous membranes or non-intact skin
• perform good hand hygiene - look out for breaks in the skin, cuts and abrasions which could provide an entry point to infective micro-organisms; these should be covered with waterproof dressings
• recognise that mucous membranes allow absorption of body fluids; wearing protective eye wear will prevent the risk of absorption by splashing or by inhaling some airborne micro-organisms
• recognise that maintaining a safe clean environment is essential for preventing the spread of infection.

Additional precautions are required for patients known or suspected of having infections which are highly transmissible, and are:

• respiratory precautions – micro-organisms spread by the airborne / droplet route
• enteric precautions – micro-organisms spread by the faecal-oral route
• contact precautions – micro-organisms spread by direct contact

More details regarding the standard and additional precautions can be found within the Trust IPC safe practice guidelines on East24

Published 31st August, 2016