UNIT-4223-007 The principles of infection prevention and control Outcome1 Understand roles and responsibilities in the prevention and control of infections The learner can; 1. Explain employees ’roles and responsibilities in relation to the prevention and control of infection As a minimum I need to ensure that I wash my hands before and after each activity. However, hand washing alone may not be sufficient for the activity I’m involved in. When assessing the risk of infection, the chances are that if you are assisting somebody to walk from the bedside to the toilet on the ward, hand washing alone may be sufficient. If, however, I was assisting with the repositioning of a patient who is incontinent, I would probably consider hand washing, gloves and an apron.
All of these situations call for proper hand washing technique. Hands should be washed periodically during the day to prevent the risk of illness or infection. Proper hand washing technique begins with preparation. During the preparation remove jewelry, including watches. Jewelry has small crevices that can hold microorganisms.
Hand washing with soap & warm water should remove these transient organisms before they are transferred to surfaces, another patient or to a susceptible area on the same patient. In addition to washing with soap and water an alcohol rub will increase the removal of transient bacteria and should be used prior to clean or aseptic procedures, e.g. dressing changes, giving injections. Using an alcohol rub is a useful alternative when the hands are not visibly dirty, or when adequate hand washing facilities are not available. It is important that hand washing is carried out correctly to prevent the spread of infection.
Through work plans, you break down a process into small, achievable tasks and identify the things you want to accomplish. Creating a work plan can make people understand their job objectives, goals, and help to achieve goals and tasks efficiently. Maintaining work plan can help people solve problems more easily, work efficiently. Source: http://www.wikihow.com/Write-a-Work-Plan 2) For a period of 2 weeks keep a personal paper-based or electronic (e.g. personal digital assistant) journal related to your job role.
For example when assisting a service user to have a bath, shower or to use the toilet you must always wear the PPE (personal protective equipment) provided when removing any soiled clothing you must dispose of it in the correct way using the sluice bags that are provided and the sluice bags should be tided shut thus preventing any infection among other service users clothes. Any PPE used should be disposed of in the room you have used and before leaving that room employees must ensure they wash their hands using the correct hand washing method displayed. Another responsibility employees have is to prepare and maintain environment before and after patient care making sure all PPE is worn if there are any bodily fluids in the room i.e. on the floor sink etc this spiliage should be cleaned up immediately using the appropriate disinfectant cleaning products to prevent any infection spreading such as MRSA, C Diff and the norovirus. Q: 1.2 Explain employers’ respsonsibilitys in relation to the prevention and control of infection.
It’s important to know what’s in the hair when you’re planning to try out new techniques, and it’s doubly important to know what is in the hair when you’re trying to get a feel for how a technique is supposed to work. Now, aside from clean hair, the most-important factor in this technique is the blow dryer. Any blow dryer can help you dry your hair. But if you want to get the best result from a blowout style, you want something that allows you to control the temperature and airflow more than just your basic blow dryer. You want a hair dryer that offers at least a dual-settings switch on the fan and the temperature.
In this case the event is safe handling and disposal of waste and laundry. So What ? The event is analysed and any learning from this made conscious. What did you do and what could you have done too improve the situation. Now What ?
Introduction to duty of care in health, social care or children’s and young people’s settings 1 Understand the implications of duty of care 1.1 Define the term ‘duty of care’ The responsibility to care for someone who is not able to care for themselves and requires assistance and to protect there health and safety and to avoid careless injury. 1.2 Describe how the duty of care affects own work role The duty of care you have in your job is to keep yourself safe and your service user safe. Keep up to date on your training. Always wash your hands before attending a service user before and after, and wear the protective aprons and gloves that are supplied by your work. 2 Understand support available for addressing dilemmas that may arise about duty of care 2.1 Describe dilemmas that may arise between the duty of care and an individual’s rights Important medication needs to be taken and there is a risk they can become ill if they don’t take them.
I need to ensure that when they come into the clinic area that it is free from any potential hazards that could cause harm, whether that is a trip hazard or sharps hazard. I also need to ensure the clinic area is clean and that patients are aware of the toilet facilities available. Management of health and safety at work regulation 1999 – under this act the main requirement for an employer is to carry out risk assessments in the work place. The employer must assess the health and safety risks that could affect their employees whilst in the working environment. This is also applies to patients and visitors in the same environment.
Hand decontamination is the most effective and definitely the most cost-effective, method of avoiding infections related to poor hand hygiene. The aim of hand decontamination is to significantly reduce the carriage of potential pathogens on the hands that can potentially be dangerous to patients and healthcare workers. Decontamination refers to the process of removal of blood, bodily fluids and destruction (elimination) of micro-organism from the hands. Current national and international guidelines suggest that hand decontamination should be performed before and after patient contact. Deciding when to decontaminate your hand can be a little bit daunting.