Infection Control is Important !

Infection control is a precaution set in place to prevent the spread of infection. Were I work, the hospital has policies and procedures that staff, patients and visitors must follow. Precautions are set into place if a patient is sent from a different hospital or present with symptoms that require isolation. The four isolation precautions are: airborne, droplet , contact, droplet/contact. When isolation is set into place the patient is put into a privet room and the proper sign will go up to meet the symptoms. The staff must wear personal protective equipment (PPE). PPE is a gown, gloves, mask, goggles or face shield . For visitors, it is very important to educate of the infection controls precaution that are in place. Teaching is key in the steps to prevent the spread of infection.
The patients that need isolation are usually for clostridium difficile ( c-diff), vancomycin resistant enterococcus (VRE) and methicillin resistant staph aureus (MRSA). These are called antibiotic resistant organism's (ARO). These are contact isolation precautions were you only wear a gown and gloves. Droplet isolation precautions are put in place when a patient presents themselves with a cough and fever. Airborne isolation precautions are used when the patient may have a organisms that can travel long distances . An example would be Tuberculosis. Contact/droplet is put in place when a patient presents with contact symptoms and droplet symptoms. For example, influenza. There are many different organism that require isolation precautions. The infection control policies and procedures are important for the prevention of the spread of infection in the hospital.

Reference: Best Practices for Infection Prevention & Control of MRSA & VRE in all Health Care Settings. March 2007. http://www.virox.com/msds/pdf/PIDACBestPracticesMRSAandVRE.pdf