Application of the updated CDC isolation guidelines for health care facilities

AORN Journal,  March, 2008  by Shauna Ely Tarrac

• E-mail
• Print
• Link

MANAGING HEALTH CARE ENVIRONMENTS

The definition of isolation was the mainstay on which hospital isolation protocols were established. In recent years, however, the term isolation has evolved to characterize a process designed to manage the health care environment. Modern isolation techniques incorporate a broad-based theory that addresses the needs of both patients and employees to ensure that the safest possible environment is maintained throughout the health care facility. The term isolation has changed from meaning a special "set of precautions" performed by a few health care providers for a select few patients to a safety system that is practiced by virtually everyone in the course of routine patient care.

These changes have evolved in stages during the past few years. Early isolation standards required that patients be placed under isolation protocols when an infectious process was diagnosed or strongly suspected. Patients were assigned isolation protocols based on a system that categorized them according to the type of disease and its primary method of transmission.

The concept and re-emphasis of standard precautions is creating a need for health care professionals to change the way they think about infection and the way they interact with all patients. The CDC worked to streamline the existing system and create a new system that would be easy to understand and easy to use. It is from this background that the current guidelines evolved. Critical thinking by perioperative nursing staff members is essential to reduce exposures to infectious agents in acute care facilities. When in doubt, clinicians should consult with the facility infection prevention practitioner and should institute the 2007 isolation guidelines (Table 2).

Examination 1.7 Ce

Application of the Updated CDC Isolation Guidelines for Health Care Facilities

PURPOSE/GOAL

To educate perioperative nurses about applying the updated Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) isolation guidelines for health care facilities.

BEHAVIORAL OBJECTIVES

After reading and studying the article on applying the updated CDC isolation guidelines, nurses will be able to

1. identify the elements of standard precautions,

2. discuss routes of disease transmission,

3. define organisms of interest that clinicians should monitor,

4. describe the types of standard precautions to be used depending on the applicable method of disease transmission, and

5. discuss nursing actions to combat organisms of interest.

QUESTIONS

1. The key elements of standard precautions include

1. adhering to respiratory etiquette.

2. employing safe injection practices.

3. performing hand hygiene.

4. using appropriate personal protective equipment.

a. 1 and 3

b. 2 and 4

c. 1, 2, and 3

d. 1, 2, 3, and 4

2. Staff members should wear masks during invasive procedures involving the insertion of catheters or injection of material into spinal or epidural spaces via lumbar puncture.

a. true

b. false