Reference no: EM132977201
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?