Читать книгу Understanding Anatomy and Physiology in Nursing - John Knight - Страница 53

Effective infection prevention and control measures include:

 Hand washing with soap and water following the World Health Organization’s 5 Moments.

 Wear gloves and aprons for contact with vomit, faeces or contaminated equipment or environment.

 Source isolation preferably in a single room with en-suite facilities or cohort nursing with designated toilets or commodes.

 Specimens of faeces should be sent for microbiological examination.

 Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests which detect the presence of norovirus nucleic acid are the preferred tests.

 Prompt decontamination of spillages and increased frequency of environmental cleaning first with detergent and water followed by a 1000 ppm solution of a chlorine-releasing disinfectant.

 Reduce unnecessary movement of patients.

 Discharge home is allowed but transfer to nursing homes should be delayed until the patient has been asymptomatic for 48 hours. Transfer to other wards must only be allowed according to urgent clinical need and following a risk assessment.

 Contaminated linen should be placed in an alginate bag before being placed in a red linen bag and sent to the laundry.

 Waste must be correctly sorted and the appropriate coloured bag used.

 Non-essential visitors must be excluded, e.g. hair dressers, newspaper trolleys.

 All patients’ visitors must be informed of the outbreak and advised to wash their hands thoroughly on leaving the ward. In some cases visiting may be discouraged but in the case of terminally ill patients, children, vulnerable adults and those for whom visiting is an essential part of recovery, visiting should be allowed.

 Any staff who become unwell should stay off sick until they have been asymptomatic for 48 hours.

 All patient areas must be thoroughly cleaned at the end of the outbreak. This should include laundering of curtains, and steam cleaning of soft furnishings should be considered.