Reference no: EM132977188 , Length: word count:1600

HLTINF001 Comply with infection prevention and control policies and procedures

Part A - Descriptive questions:

1. Define a nosocomial infection and provide five (5) common examples and five (5) risks of acquisition of nosocomial infections. Discuss how nosocomial infections are transmitted. Why is the understanding of nosocomial infections significant in a nursing practice?

2. Discuss how infection is transmitted. Describe the following common modes of transmission using examples.
• Direct contact transmission
• Indirect contact transmission
• Droplet transmission
• Airborne transmission
• Transmission of an illness through penetrating injuries

3. Define a ‘susceptible host'. Discuss how the following factors increase the susceptibility of a host to infection in a hospital context:
• Immune status
• Wounds
• Devices used in a clinical setting
• Medications taken by the person
• Comorbidities of the patient
• Age

4. Discuss five (5) examples of standard precautions you must follow in a health care environment. Include in your response when you should follow each of these precautions.

5. Outline correct steps involved in washing hands using soap and water and using hand rub in a healthcare context.

6. Discuss the use and scope of the following personal protective equipment (PPE) in a medical ward using examples:
• Gloves
• Gowns and waterproof aprons
• Masks
• Protective glasses

7. What measures should be taken to prevent the occurrence of sharps injury? Discuss how a nurse should handle and dispose of sharps in a clinical setting.

8. Discuss what a nurse should do if they sustain a sharps injury from a needle used to give an intravenous injection to a patient.

9. You notice a spillage on the floor of your area after treating a patient. You do not know what body fluid it is. How will you manage this?

10. What are the main methods of sterilizing used clinical equipment?

11. Name the five (5) moments of hand hygiene.

12. Discuss the differences between hand hygiene techniques using soap and water (hand wash) and use of alcohol hand rub in a clinical context. (Note that you are NOT required to discuss steps in performing these techniques here; rather explain their significance). Discuss three (3) clinical situations in which you should perform hand washing rather than using a hand rub.

13. A simple way of describing the hazard management process is the SAFER approach: Candidates are to provide the missing words and discuss the application of each step or component of the SAFER approach.

14. Discuss the recommended personal hygiene measures a nurse should follow. Include in your response why it is important for nurses to maintain personal hygiene in a clinical context.

15. Explain the significance of a pre-surgical hand washing technique. Include in your response how a pre surgical hand preparation is different from routine hand hygiene.

16. Discuss the significance of maintaining intact skin, fingernails and jewellery/watches for nurses. What are the guidelines in maintaining intact skin, fingernails and jewellery/watches in a clinical context?

17. Explore and discuss routine surface cleaning procedures and their specified times in a clinical context using two examples.

18. What are the recommended reprocessing procedures for reusable used equipment in a clinical setting? Discuss the role of the nurse in equipment reprocessing.

19. What is meant by the ‘chain of infection'? Briefly describe components or elements of the chain of infection giving at least one example of each element. Discuss the role of a nurse in breaking this chain and preventing transmission of diseases.

20. Research and discuss the following aspects of the basis of infections:
• What is the difference between harmless microorganisms and pathogens? Provide examples.
• Discuss common infections caused by each of bacteria, fungi, viruses (three examples each). Specify causative organisms for each of the identified diseases.
• What are bacterial spores? How can they be destroyed?
• What are some common sources of infectious agents?
• What is the difference between colonisation, infection and disease?

21. Research and discuss the following aspects of various sources of infecting microorganisms:
• Who are known as asymptomatic carriers?
• What is meant by ‘people in the incubation phase of the disease'?
• How could people who are acutely ill with an infection cause illness in others?

22. Outline three (3) different additional precautions you could use in a clinical setting and describe their relevance in an aged care facility.

23. Briefly describe the appropriate procedure you must implement in cleaning and safely handling a blood spill from the intra venous cannula of a patient admitted with an infection.

24. Outline three (3) infection hazards you might encounter in a hospital environment when providing nursing care.

25. Discuss four (4) control measures you must implement to prevent infectious risks when preparing food for a patient.

26. Outline the hierarchy of risk control measures from most to least preferred. Provide a brief description of each hierarchy. Choose from the following list:
• Substitution
• Engineering controls
• Administrative controls
• Elimination
• Personal Protective Equipment
• Isolation

PART B - CASE STUDY QUESTIONS

1. Assume you are working as an enrolled nurse in a hospital. A patient was admitted with a major infectious respiratory disease. Special ventilation requirements or monitored negative pressure isolation rooms are recommended for patients with infectious respiratory diseases.
Discuss the rationale for this recommendation.
Include in your response whether only the use of standard precautions is adequate for this situation.

2. Assume you are working as an enrolled nurse in an aged care facility. There was an outbreak of gastroenteritis in your workplace. What precautions should you take when there is an outbreak of gastroenteritis in a resident? Why?

3. A colleague you work with was exposed to blood and body fluids. It was the shift change time. The colleague panicked and left the workplace immediately after giving handover to the next staff member without taking appropriate post-exposure measures. Sometime later, a patient advised you of this incident.
How should you respond to it and why?

Assessment task 2

Simulation based assessment task 1:
Assume that you are working as an enrolled nurse in an aged care facility. Your facility is currently conducting an infection control audit (internal audit). You are a member of the audit team on your floor in the facility.

Assume that you have returned to work after suffering from fever and a cough and that you still have an occasional cough and running nose. You also had a fall the day before while at home and had a small cut on your index finger and a minor abrasion on the back of your ring finger.

You are asked to inspect your workplace (simulated nursing environment) and identify all infection hazards. Once infection hazards are identified, you are required to undertake the following activities:
• Assess risk by determining the likelihood and severity of harm from identified hazards. Risk assessment reference guidelines are provided at the end of this task.
• Identify appropriate control measures to minimise risk.
• Complete the risk assessment form (provided with the observation checklist for this task).
• Report the identified hazards to the registered nurse.
• Remove the identified hazards from the workplace using appropriate techniques and personal protective equipment (PPE).
• Follow appropriate personal hygiene and hand hygiene practices (both the use of alcohol-based hand rub (ABHR) and hand washing)
• Demonstrate appropriate respiratory hygiene and cough etiquette. Demonstrate:
o The use of appropriate PPE when coughing.
o Use and disposal of tissue paper when coughing or sneezing.
o What you will do when a PPE or tissue is not readily available Note to the candidate:
• Your assessor will play the role of the registered nurse.
• Complete and submit the risk assessment form.

The total time allocated to complete this task is twenty (20) minutes (including inspection, discussion and documentation).

Simulation based assessment task 2:
Assume that you are working as an enrolled nurse in a medical ward. This task will assess your knowledge and skills in using standard and additional precautions.
Your assessor will make sure that a range of PPE are available in the area outside a patient's room (simulated nursing environment). You are required to demonstrate:
a. Appropriate use of PPE, if the patient is on contact precautions due to gastroenteritis. Print out and place an appropriate sign for contact precautions on the patient's door.
b. Appropriate use of PPE, if there is a risk of blood splash contamination from a patient who has an infectious blood borne disease.
You must don and remove the appropriate PPE for each situation.

Simulation based assessment task 3:
Assume that you are working as an enrolled nurse in an operation theatre. You are about to assist in a surgical procedure. Demonstrate pre-surgical hand preparation (surgical scrub) in the simulated nursing environment.

The total time allocated to complete this task is seven (7) minutes

Simulation based assessment task 4:
Assume that you are working as an enrolled nurse in a surgical ward. A client in your ward had vomited blood. There was a small blood spill of less than 10cm on the floor and spots of blood on the over bed table and the client's spectacles.
The registered nurse took the client to the client observation room for further management and asked you to clean the blood spots on the table and the blood spill on the floor. You must demonstrate appropriate use of the spill kit when cleaning the blood spill on the floor.
You are also required to clean the room and arrange the following equipment kept in the client's room for cleaning and reuse or disposal.
• Bed linen and mattress cover
• Medication chart
• The client's moisturising cream and perfume left on the over bed table
• Urinal and bed pan kept under the client's bed
• Observation machine

You must enforce clean and contaminated zones and limit contamination, as appropriate. The total time allocated to complete this task is fifteen (15) minutes

Assessment task 3 - Professional Practice Assessment

Professional Practice Assessment Task 1:

When working as an enrolled nurse in a health and community care setting, you are required to follow organisational infection prevention and control procedures, including implementing standard and transmission-based precautions and responding to infection risks.

As part of this unit assessment, you must perform the following skills in accordance with the organisational infection prevention and control procedures:
» Use of alcohol-based hand rub (ABHR)
» Hand washing
» Care of hands (maintaining finger nails, attending to skin care needs, jewellery and watches)
» Appropriate use of PPE such as disposable gloves, masks, gowns etcetera
» Appropriate handling and disposal of soiled linen
» Enforcing clean and contaminated zones
» Limitation of contamination
» Surface cleaning (e.g. cleaning a client's immediate environment such as overbed table, bed side table etcetera
» Handle and clean client equipment

Ensure that you access the workplace policies and procedures, accurately interpret them, comply with these procedures and appropriately use workplace resources available, e.g. hand washing facilities, PPE, waste receptacles etcetera.

A range of these skills will be co-assessed with your routine clinical practice or tasks relating to other units of competency where infection prevention and control are recommended.

The Host Facilitator or EQUALS' Clinical Facilitator will observe your performance and complete the task log and observation checklist (provided in the logbook) and assessment outcome sections based on your infection prevention and control knowledge and skills. The task log summarises infection prevention activities that you have to undertake. The observation checklist includes overall observable behaviours related to infection prevention and control activities. The Host Facilitator or EQUALS' Clinical Facilitator will observe your performance over a duration of a shift or when undertaking a range of nursing care activities for a client to evaluate your infection prevention and control skills.

*Note: need only Part A - Descriptive questions

Attachment:- control policies and procedures.rar