Pathogens are microorganisms – for example, bacteria and viruses that cause disease. However, infection with a pathogen does not necessarily lead to disease. Infection arises when viruses, bacteria, or other microbes enter the body and accumulate. The body’s way of responding to infection is our immune system. White blood cells and antibodies go get to work get rid of the infection. Pathogens are everywhere; they are in the environment every day. They are spread in many different ways: Droplet Infection; When we cough, talk or sneeze, small droplets shoot out of our mouths.
If an individual has an infection, their droplets contain microorganisms. The people around them will then breath in the microorganisms and the bacteria/virus that those droplets could contain. This is how common colds are spread. Contaminated food; If you drink water that has been contaminated by sewage or you eat raw or undercooked food you are taking in a lot of microorganisms directly to your gut. An example of this is salmonella. Vectors; An animal that spreads disease – causing organisms to spread from one host to another but does not suffer atall itself is called a vector.
E. g, mosquitos spread malaria. Parasites; A parasite is an organism on/in a host and gets its food from the host. Parasites cause disease in the human body,, some are easy to treat and some are not. Fungi; Fungi infections are very common and can affect the skin, hair and nails. They are mainly caused by two groups of fungi. Dermatophytes or yeast fungal skin infections can cause a variety of different rashes. They are usually treated with cream or tablets e. g. athletes foot.
Task 2 Standard Infection Control Precautions are made in order to prevent cross transmission from recognised/unrecognised sources of infection. These sources of (potential) infection include blood and other body fluid secretions or excretions and any equipment or items in the care environment which are likely to become contaminated. These precautions should be applied at all times within a healthcare setting or where healthcare is being provided in the NHS, residential home etc.
Hands are the most common way that micro-organisms (e. g bacteria) might be transported and then cause infections, especially in those who are most susceptible to infection; for example, a patient on a ward who had been ill for a while, their immune system is low. Good hand hygiene is one of the most important things we can do in reducing transmission of infectious agents, including Healthcare Associated Infections (HCAI) during delivery of care. The NHS has three levels of hand hygiene.
The first being, Social Hand Hygiene; ‘To render the hands physically clean and to remove microorganisms picked up during activities considered ‘social’ activities (transient Micro-organisms)’ 17/11/14, www.nhsprofessionals. nhs. uk. (This should last for at least 15 seconds). Secondly, Hygienic (aseptic) Hand Hygiene;
‘To remove or destroy transient Micro- organisms. Also, to provide residual effect during times when hygiene is particularly important in protecting yourself and others (reduces those resident micro-organisms which normally live on the skin)’ 17/11/14, www. nhsprofessionals. nhs. uk. (This should last for at least 15 seconds). Finally, Surgical scrub; ‘To remove or destroy transient microorganisms and to substantially reduce resident micro- organisms during times when surgical procedures are being carried out’ 17/11/14, www. nhsprofessionals. nhs. uk.
(This should last for at least 2-3 minutes, making sure all areas of hands and forearms are washed thoroughly). When managing an out brake at work you have to follow procedures that have been put in place to protect service users and healthcare providers. For example if a nurse came into work and disclosed that they have been had vomiting and diarrea all night you should tell the ward manager or materan as they would need to go home. They would not be allowed back into work for 48 hours from their last episode, due to the RIDDOR guidelines.
Your workplace should have a written policy on waste segregation and disposal which provides guidance on all aspects, including special waste, like pharmaceuticals and cytotoxic waste, segregation of waste, and audits. This should include the colour coding of bags used for waste, for example: • Municipal/domestic waste (black bags) • Offensive waste (tiger striped) • Infectious waste (orange). M1/D1. Whilst on placement in Warrington General Hospital I saw what happens when you have to manage an outbreak.
A service user had been referred to ward A6 and they had a viral infection. The service user was isolated; they were segregated into a side room. When any of the nurses went in they had to follow certain precaution, for example, warring gloves, masks and an apron.
(http://www. pcs. org. uk/en/resources/health_and_safety/health_and_safety_legal_summaries/ health_and_safety_at_work_act_1974. cfm, Assessed 23/11/14). There are policies and procedure that you have to follow which dictate which type of apron and mask you should ware. These have been put in place to safeguard staff and service users and to abide by the law.
The Health and Safety at Work Act’ 1974, states that you have to provide members of staff with PPE (personal protective equipment). By using policies and procedure such as ‘wear an apron’ (policy) and ‘you put an apron on correctly by…’ (Procedure) you are following the law and keeping everyone involved safe. (http://www. legislation. gov. uk/ukpga/1974/37 Assessed 23/11/14). My Service providers following the policies and procedures put in place that are involved with handling and infectious outbreak, the said infection should not be passed on or spread.
The policies and procedures have been proven to work and therefore the infection should stop. Isolation ( one of the NHS’s policies/ procedures) helps Staff understand how to manage an outbreak, making it easier to control. Task 3 P4/M2 There are many key aspects of legislations and guidelines relevant to the prevention and control of infection prevention and control, for example, ‘Health and Saftey Act’ (1974). This Act places responsibilities on the Trust and individual employees to do what is reasonable to adequately control the risks of infection to staff and others.
Under this legislation all employees have the responsibilites to cooperate with the Trust on matters of health and safety and in the context of this policy particularly regarding the reduction of risks from healthcare associated infections. Infection control policies, procedures and protocols are designed to outline the prinicples and responsibilities associated with the prevention and control of infection in a health care setting.? &http://www. hse. gov. uk/electricity/information/testing. htm Assessed, 24/11/14).
You can prevent infection by following policies and procedures of The Health and Safety Act 1974. An example of this within a healthcare setting is – Washing your hands with hands sanitizer after patient contact, you are not just looking out for yourself but you are following the policies and procedures and upholding the safety of your colleagues and service users as you are preventing the spread of bacterial microorganisms from your hands. ‘RIDDOR’ (1995, updated in 2013) is the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations.
This legislation has been put in place to make sure that if anyone has a slip, trip, fall or minor injury it is documented; this helps with insurance claims and also help accidents from happening again. If any accidents happen, a report had to be written and this report has to be kept in file for up to three years. It needs to be available to inspectors to see if they so wish.
In following RIDDOR and flowing the policies and procedures individuals are preventing infection and no one is being put at risk. An example of this is doctors cut themselves at the end of surgery with one of the surgical knife, they would need to report it to their senior who would then send them for treatment. By this happening the manager and doctor they are following the policies and procedures and if it is a minor injury the doctor will most likely be ok to keep on working and not be putting the patient at risk. ‘COSHH’ (2002); Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations.
This legislation has been in place since 2002, it protects employees who might work around/ come into contact with hazardous substances. These could be anything from acids to blood, urine or other bodily fluids. COSHH watches these substances, their use and their disposal. They regulate where/how these substances are kept. The way in which they are labeled and their effects, just incase of emergencies. ‘The Food Safety Act’ (1990), provides the framework for all food legislation in Britain.
The main responsibilities for all food businesses under the Act are: • to make sure you do not include anything in food, remove anything from food or treat food in any way which means it would be damaging to the health of people eating it • to make sure that the food you serve or sell is of the nature, substance or quality which consumers would expect Collapse of a lift Death or major Lung Diseases RIDDOR things that have be reported Musculo-skeletal disorders Skin Conditions.
Poisoning Occupational Cancers to make sure that the food is labeled, advertised and presented in a way that is not false or misleading; for example when the hospital shop workers go round the ward with the trolley full of goods and magazines. This Act makes sure that the highest possible standards for organisations that are preparing and serving food, meaning that food served must be in a “fit state” before serving it otherwise it is illegal.
This legislation links into The Food Hygiene Regulations and The Regulations on The Hygiene of Foodstuffs 2006. This secondary Act gives us guidelines of general food hygiene and how you must document food safety management systems. (http://www. food. gov. uk/business-industry/guidancenotes/hygguid , Assessed: 25/11/14) A policy and procedure of The Food Safety Act 1990 is the keeping of meats and other foods separate. To do different chopping boards should be used, for example two different coloured boards and knives which can help prevent cross contamination of foods. In following these legislations, you are ensuring that illness caused by food isn’t spread as these legislations say that food ‘must be traceable from farm to fork’.
Therefore, if these policies and procedures are followed, there will not be any outbreaks in food poisoning, for example, Salmonella. (http://www. doncaster. gov. uk/sections/environment/environmentalhealth/foodsafety/food_hy giene_legislation. aspx http://www. nhs. uk/Conditions/Food-poisoning/Pages/Causes. aspx, Assessed: 25/11/14) P5/M3/D2. Individuals working within the Health and Social Care have a responsibility to minimise the risk of infection, not only to protect themselves but to also safeguard patients and their colleagues.
To ensure this happens, there is a code of conduct that must be followed, this is the same for any work place. Everyone has their own responsibilities within their workplace with the exception of Mangers everyone is usually has the same responsibilities or different but on the same level. When someone is a Manager or a in a Senior position their responsibilities are larger and therefore if something happens or someone makes a mistake then as the senior member or staff it would fall on you to sort it out.
Everyone who has a job in Health and Social care has to acknowledge that they have a role in the prevention of the spreading infection and illness and infection control. Due to this it is very important that these professionals, along side the public, remember to wash their hands then use hand gel. This ensure any bacteria or infectious microorganisms on your hands are killed, so you don’t give it the change to spread from person to person. It is not just the job of Health and Social Care Professionals responsibility to make sure infections don’t spread it is EVERYONES!
This is the reason why gloves, aprons and other PPE are used in health care settings as things are so easily spread and there are very sick service users with low immune system so are at higher risk of contracting infections. This is why risk assessments are used, they help us understand which individuals are most at risk and then you can put measures in to prevent anything form happening. Risk Assessments are charts, which show you the value of the possibility of something happening, weather that be a high risk or a low risk.
Whilst on placement in Warrington General Hospital I observed many risk assessment being carried out. One was for bed sores and another was for an individual who had just had a knee replacement and the Occupational therapist was looking at the risk assessment of their likelihood to have falls, in order for them to see what the individual might need at home, or if he needed a walking stick. This gave me the opportunity to see the work of an occupational therapist and the Multidisciplinary Team at work. The Risk Assessment we have been given states the risk – infection control – and how to reduce it; using protective equipment.
This is helpful as it is informative and you then know what you need to be doing in order to keep infection under control. This Risk assessment doesn’t go into much detail, however, it portrays the message it needs to, which is coming into contact with infected material could cause infection to spread. It provides instructions, sush as, “ Bags to be changed when ? full” and “ No sitting on beds”. This risk assessment follows the guidelines as it is fully filled out with the ‘centre name’ (Sullyside Nursing Home), the patients details, however, it has not been approved.
This means that the risk assessment has not been seen by the Manager, it is however still valid. This legislation abides by legislation as it contains all the factors that have to be considered and it is going to be controlled monthly ( Or sooner if needed) by Mr. J Smith.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: ?http://www. rcn. org. uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/427832/004166. pd, Assessed: 10/11/14 ?Ayling P (2007), Infection Prevention + Control: Knoweledge Set, Assessed: 13/11/14 ?WesvonP ( 2008), Infection Prevention and Control, Assessed: 15/11/14 ?www. nhsprofessionals. nhs. uk Assessed, 14/11/14 ?http://www. pcs. org. uk/en/resources/health_and_safety/health_and_safety_legal_sum maries/health_and_safety_at_work_act_1974. cfm.
Assessed 23/11/14 ?http://www. legislation. gov. uk/ukpga/1974/37, Assessed 23/11/14 ?http://www. food. gov. uk/business-industry/guidancenotes/hygguid , Assessed: 25/11/14 ?http://www. doncaster. gov. uk/sections/environment/environmentalhe alth/foodsafety/food_hygiene_legislation. aspx http://www. nhs. uk/Conditions/Food-poisoning/Pages/Causes. aspx, Assessed: 25/11/14.