Infection control 101 Nephrology Nursing Journal; To provide an overview of infection
control and its importance in the daily provision of health care.
Objectives
1. Discuss the application of asepsis and sepsis techniques in infection control.
2. Explain the three principles of infection control practices of medical and surgical sepsis.
3. List measures to help prevent infections.
4. Outline suggested nursing measures to help prevent the spread of infection.
There are numerous living organisms with which humans co-exist with on a daily basis.
However for patients who are on dialysis and are immunocompromised, it is important that
healthcare professionals provide safe, quality care on basic infection control practices. Some of
this practices include;
1. Hand washing or hand hygiene- this is the first step in preventing the transmission of
infection.
Asepsis is the absence of disease-producing microorganisms, called pathogens. Asepsis
can be separated into two types: Medical and Surgical.
Medical asepsis refers to infection control practices that work to decrease the number
and/or transfer of disease-producing organisms from one person or place to another.
These practices are usually known as clean technique.
Surgical asepsis includes practices that keep objects and areas completely free of
organisms, known as sterile technique. It is important to understand the application of
these techniques in infection control. The use of clean technique is vital because there are
always organisms in the environment that in some individuals and under certain
circumstances can cause infections. Clean technique is commonly used both in and
outside the healthcare community because it is assumed that pathogens are likely to be
present, even if the exact kind of pathogen is unknown. Community-acquired infections
can be from various public sources (such as water and food). A general example would
be public water source. Likewise, there are times when an organism is known to be
present in the environment or within the patient. These occurrences lead to additional
precautions being implemented (for example, isolation). Isolation techniques include the
use of specific measures related to the way an organism is transmitted. In the dialysis
community, an important example of understanding transmission would be viruses, such
as hepatitis and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Hepatitis B (HBV) is a serious
viral disease that affects the liver. HBV is spread through contact with the blood or other
body fluids of an infected person. HBV can survive outside the body at least seven days
and still be capable of causing infection. Conversely, hepatitis C (HCV) and HIV are
transmitted primarily through large or repeated percutaneous (passage through the skin)
control and its importance in the daily provision of health care.
Objectives
1. Discuss the application of asepsis and sepsis techniques in infection control.
2. Explain the three principles of infection control practices of medical and surgical sepsis.
3. List measures to help prevent infections.
4. Outline suggested nursing measures to help prevent the spread of infection.
There are numerous living organisms with which humans co-exist with on a daily basis.
However for patients who are on dialysis and are immunocompromised, it is important that
healthcare professionals provide safe, quality care on basic infection control practices. Some of
this practices include;
1. Hand washing or hand hygiene- this is the first step in preventing the transmission of
infection.
Asepsis is the absence of disease-producing microorganisms, called pathogens. Asepsis
can be separated into two types: Medical and Surgical.
Medical asepsis refers to infection control practices that work to decrease the number
and/or transfer of disease-producing organisms from one person or place to another.
These practices are usually known as clean technique.
Surgical asepsis includes practices that keep objects and areas completely free of
organisms, known as sterile technique. It is important to understand the application of
these techniques in infection control. The use of clean technique is vital because there are
always organisms in the environment that in some individuals and under certain
circumstances can cause infections. Clean technique is commonly used both in and
outside the healthcare community because it is assumed that pathogens are likely to be
present, even if the exact kind of pathogen is unknown. Community-acquired infections
can be from various public sources (such as water and food). A general example would
be public water source. Likewise, there are times when an organism is known to be
present in the environment or within the patient. These occurrences lead to additional
precautions being implemented (for example, isolation). Isolation techniques include the
use of specific measures related to the way an organism is transmitted. In the dialysis
community, an important example of understanding transmission would be viruses, such
as hepatitis and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Hepatitis B (HBV) is a serious
viral disease that affects the liver. HBV is spread through contact with the blood or other
body fluids of an infected person. HBV can survive outside the body at least seven days
and still be capable of causing infection. Conversely, hepatitis C (HCV) and HIV are
transmitted primarily through large or repeated percutaneous (passage through the skin)
