Health related infection prevention and control is a under recognized part of the practice of health care. Infection control means preventing epidemics that can cause poor health, higher medical and insurance costs, and bring about unnecessary deaths and diseases.

Infection restriction is one of the factors that prevent the spread of infections within populations. This includes patient to patient, from patients to medical staff and from staff to patients. Definite infection control methods are extremely easy and should be a part of your everyday life, too.

Infection Control

Staying healthy requires good hygiene. The spread of infections within the health-care system plus among populations can be prevented in several ways:

-Hand washing – This is the most important part of infection control. Using warm water and soap plus drying your hands sufficiently is simple, obtainable, and will control infections.

As long ago as 1843, it was determined that a link between contracting infections in a health care setting or even a home setting and not washing hands was a leading contributor to deadly infections. Currently the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has documented that the most important measure for preventing infections from spreading among populations is hand washing.

It is mandatory that all heath care workers wash their hands and wear gloves when examining patients and rewashing and gloving after treatments. There should never been bare hand to patient; wear gloves and wash hands.

Have you seen the signs in the restrooms of restaurants? There are huge signs declaring that hand washing is mandatory after using the restroom and before returning to work. Hands spread disease.

-Drying your hands is as essential as washing. Bacteria levels are still present after warm water and soap washing, and hand drying takes away more bacteria that is left behind.

-Sterilization is important in infection control. Sterilization is a method that kills all microorganisms and is the highest level of killing bacteria. Sterilizers may be heat, steam or liquid chemical. Using alcohol based hand sanitizers and chemical sterilization, is very effective when used after washing hands.

-Use disinfectants especially when cleaning up after someone who has been ill. Use high disinfectants when taking care of diarrhea or vomiting patients or family members. Use disinfectants on surfaces, germs live on surfaces for days, to kill microorganisms that cause disease. Disinfection does not eliminate bacterial endospores, but it does kill viruses.

Health-Care Settings

When working in a healthcare situation, preventing infection is augmented by personal protective equipment. These types of protective measures include:

Specialized clothing worn by a health care worker for protection against bodily fluids such as blood and saliva or aerosols that carry infectious materials is required by law. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) mandate that using personal protective equipment (PPE) by health workers to protect against blood borne pathogens will protect their health and the health of their patients. HIPAA laws, which are privacy laws, are mandated by OSHA and infection control is a part of keeping every patient and staff member safe.

For more information, please visit our HIPAA Training Course website.

For more information, please visit our HIPAA Training Course website http://www.hipaaexams.com/hipaa-training.asp

Author Bio: For more information, please visit our HIPAA Training Course website.

Category: Wellness, Fitness and Diet
Keywords: HIPAA Training Course, Staying Healthy