Chapter 1: Infection Prevention and Control
1.4 Additional Precautions and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
Critical Thinking Exercises: Questions, Answers, and Sources / References
Critical thinking questions are in bold type, and the answers are italicized. Additional resources or references are provided below.
- What is a point of care risk assessment?
The point of care risk assessment refers to when a healthcare provider asks or considers a number of different things prior to the client/patient interaction about whether or not they are at risk for an adverse consequence (i.e., injury, exposure).
Sources:
Alberta Health Services. (2018, July). Point of care risk assessment (PCRA) [Infographic]. https://www.albertahealthservices.ca/assets/healthinfo/ipc/hi-ipc-acute-care-pcra.pdf
SafeCare BC. (n.d.). Point of care risk assessment for transfers. http://safecarebc.ca/wp-content/uploads/Point-of-Care-Risk-Assessment-SCBC-Version1.pd
2. What resources are available to the nurse when making decisions about implementing additional precautions?
Every agency and employer in healthcare will have infection prevention and control resources. Usually this is in the form of online documents. All of these documents are informed by the Centers for Disease Control guidelines and recommendations.
Sources:
See any infection prevention and control guidelines in any health authority.
Centers for Disease Control and Precautions (CDC). (2016). Transmission-based precautions. https://www.cdc.gov/infectioncontrol/basics/transmission-based-precautions.html
3. A family member has come into the healthcare setting to visit his mother, who has been admitted with chicken pox. List four infection preventive measures to discuss with the family member.
- Hand hygiene before and after patient contact
- Chicken pox is spread by air and contact
- Avoiding entering the room if the visitor has not had chicken pox so therefore is susceptible
- Incubation period of chicken pox is 10-21 days.
- If family member is providing direct care: N95 respirator, gown, gloves
- Hand hygiene after PPE is removed
Source:
Interior Health. (2016). Infection prevention and control [Section 04H – IH0400]. https://www.interiorhealth.ca/AboutUs/QualityCare/IPCManual/Contact%20Precautions.pdf