INFECTION Control and

PREVENTION
Chain of Infection
Clean Your Hands
The Five Moments for Hand Hygiene
Know When Antibiotics are
Appropriate
Follow all Posted Precaution Signs
 Standard precautions include:

1.Hand hygiene
2.Use of personal protective equipment
(e.g., gloves, gowns, masks)
3.Safe injection practices
4.Safe handling of potentially contaminated
equipment or surfaces in the patient
environment, and
5.Respiratory hygiene/cough etiquette.
Isolation precautions are used to help
stop the spread of germs from one
person to another
 Infection prevention measures to decrease the
transmission of respiratory illness

1.Availability and use of

tissues when
coughing and
sneezing, and
reminders to dispose
of used tissues
properly.
2.Use of a mask for a
person who is
coughing.
3.Physical separation of
the person with a
respiratory infection
from others.
4. Stressing hand
hygiene after contact
with respiratory
secretions. This
applies to the patient,
family members,
visitors, employees,
and care providers.
 There are three different types of
transmission precautions:

• Contact Precautions—
used for infections,
diseases, or germs that
are spread by touching
the patient or items in the
room (examples: MRSA,
VRE, diarrheal illnesses,
open wounds, RSV).
• Droplet Precautions—
used for diseases or
germs that are spread
in tiny droplets
caused by coughing
and sneezing
(examples:
pneumonia, influenza,
whooping cough,
bacterial meningitis).
• Airborne Precautions
—used for diseases
or very small germs
that are spread
through the air from
one person to another
(examples:
tuberculosis,
measles,
chickenpox).
Use Personal Protective Equipment
The World Health
Organization
recommends that you
clean your hands and put
gloves on:
1.Before a sterile procedure
2.When you think you’ll
come in contact with
blood or another bodily
fluid
3.When you’re going to care
for a patient during
contact precautions
Take gloves off and clean your hands:
1.As soon as gloves are damaged or
punctured
2.When your contact with blood or bodily
fluid has ended
3.When your contact with a single patient
and his/her surroundings has ended
4.When there is a need for hand hygiene
Remember:
NEVER wear the
same pair of
gloves for the
care of more
than one patient!
Gowns - are classified by their ability to
withstand penetration by blood or body
fluids.
An isolation gown is a
non-sterile gown used to
keep clothing from getting
contaminated. These are
fluid resistant enough to
keep body fluids away
from clothing for a short
period of time. Used for
care of patients on
contact precautions and
for splash-generating
procedures. May be
disposable or non-
disposable.
 Masks and respirators
A procedure mask (also
called an isolation
mask) is a disposable
mask that protects the
wearer from droplets
that might be
infectious
An N95 respirator is a
tight-fitting cover that
when properly fitted to
the face protects the
wearer from very
small particles that
float in the air, such
as TB, measles, and
chickenpox.
Get Vaccinated
Vaccinations can protect
you, your family, and your
patients from
serious and preventable
diseases like the flu,
pertussis, and many
others. Vaccines can
reduce the risk of
diseases ranging from
severe bacterial
infections, persistent and
painful viruses, and
even cancer.
What you can do:
As healthcare professionals, you
should:

• Get your flu shot and stay up-

to-date on your vaccinations.
• Encourage your patients to get
their flu shots, as well.
• The importance of the flu shot
• Learn the importance of the flu
shot.

• Remind your patients to stay

up-to-date on all their
vaccinations.
Use Safe Injection Practices
 What you can do:

It is important to remember
that needles and syringes
are single use devices.
The following are other
ways you can ensure
safe injection practices:

1.Wash your hands before

administering a needle.
2.Use a clean needle and
syringe to draw up and
administer medication.
3.Use a syringe to administer
medication to only one person
—this includes accessing the
vial with a syringe that has
already been used to
administer medication to
another patient.
4.Never use a common bag of
saline or other IV fluid for more
than one person, by accessing
the bag with a syringe that has
already been used to flush
another person’s IV line.
 Keep the Patient’s Room Clean
Ask to have your room or
equipment cleaned.
Keeping healthcare
facilities clean is
extremely important. It’s
very easy for germs to be
passed from the surfaces
to the hands and to other
people.
So speak up and ask to
have your room or
equipment cleaned if they
appear dirty or dusty.
What you can do:

Environmental Services specialists, patient care

specialists, and infection preventionists should
communicate frequently with one another to
ensure everyone is doing the right things to keep
patients safe in the healthcare environment.
Use the CDC’s environmental checklist for
monitoring terminal cleaning to monitor the
cleaning of high-touch surfaces in patient care
areas.
 What You Wear Matters
What you can do:
Wear gowns and other personal protective
equipment while caring for patients who may
have infections to reduce the chance of
spreading germs from patients or items in
their environment to other patients or
environments.
Wash uniforms and other clothing worn to
work daily in hot water and laundry detergent,
or with cold water and bleach. Drying clothes
completely in a hot dryer, rather than air-
drying, also helps kill bacteria in clothes. Do
not mix soiled uniforms with other personal
clothing.
 Educate Your Patients
Remember, by educating your patients, you
can help stop the spread of infection!

.
1. Be aware of healthcare-associated
infections (HAIs).
 2. Feel empowered to speak up for their
care. 
3. Know to clean their hands often. 
4. Understand the basics of safe injection
practices.
5. Be prepared to ask questions about their
medications. 
6. Know how to practice good post-surgical
care.
7. Understand how to care for their devices
8. Have a plan to stay up to date with their
vaccinations.
9. Know that they can always ask to speak
with an infection preventionist (IP).
Remember, by educating your
patients, you can help stop the
spread of infection!
 Food for Thought”
Never ever grow tired of living your life,
Never quit on moving forward.
Never stop running.
For you never know how many persons
are looking up to you and see you
as their inspiration in their own
respective lives.
Keep on moving.
Your Life Matters!