What Are the Best Practices for Infection Control in Nursing?
As a registered nurse (RN) or other healthcare provider, maintaining proper infection control techniques is crucial to providing quality patient care while preventing the spread of harmful pathogens. In this article, we’ll discuss the best practices for infection control in nursing, including hygiene protocols, personal protective equipment, sterilization, and immunizations. We’ll also cover the basics of hand hygiene, including the right technique, the use of antiseptics, and key scenarios for hand hygiene practices. Let’s dive in!
What Are the Best Practices for Infection Control in Nursing?
In our Nurse Insights series, experienced nurses offer an insider’s perspective on the nursing profession by addressing common questions, challenges, and triumphs of their careers.
Understanding the Basics of Infection Control in Nursing
In nursing, maintaining proper infection control techniques is a critical aspect of patient care, as this will prevent the spread of harmful pathogens that cause diseases. This involves following strict protocols and guidelines laid down by health regulators like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to ensure a safe environment for both patient and caregiver.
Hand Hygiene
Arguably one of the most important components of infection control, hand hygiene is your first line of defense against infection spread. It’s recommended that nurses thoroughly clean their hands before and after each patient interaction using soap and water or an alcohol-based hand sanitizer if soap isn’t available.
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
PPE is designed to protect you from exposure to infectious materials. It includes gloves, gowns, masks, respirators, goggles, and face shields, among others. Every time you’re going to come in contact with a patient, you must wear the appropriate PPE. The type of PPE you’ll wear depends on the level of precautions required for the patient’s condition. It’s essential to remove and dispose of your protective equipment according to hospital protocol to avoid contaminating yourself or others.
Sterilization and Disinfection
All medical instruments used for patient care should be appropriately sterilized or disinfected. Sterilization kills all forms of microorganisms, including bacterial spores, while disinfection eliminates many or all pathogenic microorganisms, excluding bacterial spores. Depending on the type of instrument and its use, you might use different methods of sterilization or disinfection.
Immunizations
Immunizations can help prevent the spread of diseases, both to you and to your patients. As a healthcare worker, you’re at an increased risk of exposure to certain preventable diseases, so you should keep your immunizations up to date throughout your career.
Good infection control practices are vital in nursing not only to protect yourself but also to prevent the spread of pathogens to your patients. A nurse’s role is a critical one in shaping the overall health conditions in a hospital and the broader community.
Hand Hygiene Practices
Hand hygiene is absolutely essential in the healthcare profession. As a nurse, it’s important for you to understand how this practice reduces the risk of infection and guards the health and well-being of both patients and healthcare providers alike.
The Right Technique
Proper hand hygiene isn’t simply rubbing your hands under running water. You need to use enough soap to cover all aspects of your hands and ensure a thorough scrub for a minimum of 20 seconds. Don’t overlook areas such as between fingers and under fingernails. Rinse your hands well and dry with a clean towel or air dryer to prevent recontamination from dirty faucets or surfaces.
Use of Antiseptics
Antiseptics or hand sanitizers can be highly efficient in killing most germs on your hands. The use of an antiseptic is recommended when your hands aren’t visibly soiled, when soap and water are unavailable, or where rapid hand hygiene is needed. Be sure to spread the sanitizer over the entire surface of your hands in a similar fashion to washing with soap and let your hands dry naturally.
Key Scenarios for Hand Hygiene
Good hand hygiene habits are key for all healthcare environments. Here are some occasions when you should practice hand hygiene:
- Before and after direct contact with patients.
- Before putting on and after removing gloves.
- After contact with objects in the patient’s surroundings.
- After handling bodily fluids or excretions.
- Before performing aseptic tasks such as wound care or preparing an intravenous medication.
Remember, hands are the main pathway of germ transmission during health care. Maintaining rigorous hand hygiene practices is not just a guideline, but an imperative part of the nursing role, central to ensuring patient safety.
