Infection Prevention and Control for Healthcare Personnel

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Author: Judi Bennett, BSM, MLS
Reviewers: Laurie Bjerklie, MA, MLS(ASCP)CM and Daniel J. Scungio, MLS(ASCP), SLS, CQA (ASQ)

Infection prevention and control is one of the most important pillars of healthcare employee training, and the focus of many regulatory accreditation mandates. Within the healthcare environment, hand hygiene, bloodborne pathogens, personal protective equipment (PPE) and transmission prevention are some of the most important training categories required for every healthcare employee. This course addresses each of these key concepts as well as standard precautions, proper waste disposal, disinfection techniques, among others. Descriptive scenarios and real-world assessment questions are included for enhanced learning. This course includes both ungraded practice questions and an assessment exam upon completion.

This course is intended for employees who are likely to be exposed to potentially infected bodily fluids, including first-aid responders, maintenance personnel, janitorial staff, and any personnel assigned to clean up such fluids. Other employees should receive the same training for awareness purposes so that all employees understand how to handle hazardous situations and whom they should report to, so that spills are cleaned up correctly.

Objectives

  • Identify techniques to properly perform hand hygiene.
  • Discuss Standard Precautions designed to prevent the transmission of bloodborne pathogens.
  • Recognize proper disposal procedures for biohazardous waste.
  • Select procedures that correctly manage bloodborne pathogen exposure incidents.
  • Outline proper storage of food, medication, linen, and clean equipment.
  • Describe procedures involved in transmission-based precautions, including contact, droplet, and airborne isolation categories.

Course Outline

  • Need for Infection Prevention and Control Practices
      • Constant State of Readiness
  • Standard Precautions
      • Standard Precautions
      • Which is a true statement about Standard Precautions guidelines?
  • Hand Hygiene
      • Proper Handwashing Technique
      • When Should Hand Hygiene be Performed?
      • Water-Free Hand Hygiene
      • There are certain situations when only soap and water are appropriate to adequately clean hands, such as when your hands are visibly dirty. As long as...
  • Personal Protective Equipment, Engineering Controls, and Safe Workplace Controls
      • Personal Protective Equipment
      • Engineering Controls
      • Work Practice Controls
      • Which action represents a safe procedure to perform with a needle prior to disposal?
  • Bloodborne Pathogens Standard
      • Bloodborne Pathogens and Exposure Incidents
      • Exposure Control Plan
      • Reacting to a Bloodborne Pathogen Exposure
      • Which of the following scenarios does not describe a BBP exposure?
  • Waste Disposal
      • Infectious/Biohazardous Waste
      • Sharps Waste
      • A venipuncture procedure is performed on what appears to be a healthy eight-year-old child. Upon removing the needle from the child's arm, the self-sh...
  • Cleaning, Disinfection, and Sterilization in the Healthcare Environment
      • Equipment Cleaning
      • Disinfectants
      • General Housekeeping
  • Handling, Transport, and Storage of Clean and Dirty Linen
      • Laundry/Linen Dos and Don'ts
  • Transmission Prevention
      • Respiratory Hygiene/Cough Etiquette
      • Food and Medication Safety
      • Safe Injection Practices to Prevent Contamination
      • Infectious Disease/Sick Policies
      • Immunizations
      • Which measure should be taken to help stop the spread of infections transmitted by coughing or sneezing?
  • Transmission-Based Precautions
      • Empiric and Syndromic Precautions
      • Transmission-Based Precautions
      • Contact Precautions
      • Droplet Precautions
      • Airborne Precautions
      • What type of precautions would a patient with a draining wound be placed on?
  • COVID-19
      • Protecting Against Exposure to COVID-19
  • References
      • References

Additional Information

Level of Instruction: Basic
Intended Audience: All healthcare personnel.
Author Information: Judi Bennett, BSM, MLS, is an Education Developer with MediaLab by Vastian, bringing over 30 years of experience as a medical laboratory scientist. Before joining MediaLab in 2010, she held key leadership roles including Clinical Laboratory Manager, Microbiology Supervisor, and Senior Systems Analyst at Gwinnett Health System in Lawrenceville, Georgia. Her extensive knowledge of laboratory operations, along with a strong commitment to healthcare quality and education, fuels her passion for developing engaging and effective learning tools for the next generation of laboratorians.
The author has no conflict of interest to disclose.
Reviewer Information:
Laurie Bjerklie, MA, MLS(ASCP)CM, is a Lead Education Developer. She earned a B.S. in Medical Laboratory Science from the University of North Dakota and an M.A. in Curriculum and Instruction from Saint Xavier University. She has over 15 years of experience in higher education and has held program director and faculty positions in both MLT and MLS programs.
Daniel J. Scungio, MLS(ASCP), SLS, CQA (ASQ), has over 25 years of experience as a certified medical laboratory scientist. He has a bachelor’s degree in Medical Technology from the State University of New York at Buffalo in Amherst and Buffalo, New York. Dan worked as a laboratory generalist in hospitals ranging in size from 75 to 800 beds before becoming a laboratory manager. After 10 years of lab management, he became the Laboratory Safety Officer for a system of more than 10 hospitals and over 20 laboratories and draw sites in the Tidewater area of Virginia.
Course Information: This course intends to provide an overview of the importance of infection prevention and control guidelines and practices in the healthcare workplace.

This course is part of:
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Sharps container
Injection