Scenario
Humans have increasingly tightened their shields around infection prevention and control due to the numerous unidentified illnesses that have been on the rise in today’s globe. Infection control aims to prevent or slow the transmission of infections in medical facilities (Popovich et al., 2019). Chester Brown, a 48-year-old man, arrived at the Urgent Care Center with an 8 cm inflamed and reddened abscess on his right calf, resulting from a dog bite sustained five days prior. This paper will discuss the six chains that contributed to Brown’s infection and the basic safety measures, infection control strategy, and appropriate PPE to be used while administering his treatment.
Chains of Infection
Infectious Agent
The six phases of contagion are the infectious agent, a reservoir, a portal of exit, a means of transmission, a portal of entry, and a susceptible host. The microbe that infects a host and causes illness is an infectious agent (Ali et al., 2022). The bacterium from the dog bite is the infectious agent in Brown’s situation.
Reservoir
The infectious agent typically dwells and develops in a reservoir, the second stage in the chain. In Brown’s scenario, the reservoir is the dog, which stores the infectious material without harming it but has the potential to transmit it to others.
Portal of Exit
The third stage of the infection process is a portal of exit, wherein the infectious agent departs from its reservoir. Skin, nasal secretions, excrement, blood, open wounds, or body fluids are just a few ways infectious pathogens can leave their animal or human reservoir. The bodily secretions of the dog serve as the exit portal in this case.
Means of Transmission
The infectious agent requires a mode of transmission which is the fourth stage. In this case, the mode of transmission is dog saliva, which penetrates Brown’s calf through direct contact.
Portal of Entry
The fifth phase, the portal of entry, is the point whereby the infectious agent gets into the system of the new host. It can involve broken skin, such as a wound, or mucous membranes (Ali et al., 2022). In this instance, Brown’s skin breakdown is the primary point of entry.
Susceptible Host
The susceptible host is the last stage in the chain and can be any individual who carries a pathogen or is in danger of contracting it; in this case, Brown is the host.
Standard Precaution Used
The precautions taken to combat infections are referred to as standard precautions. These measures are taken in healthcare environments to avoid contact with potential blood-borne diseases and body fluids. When treating Brown, the usual safety considerations encompass hand cleanliness, employing the appropriate PPE, sharps protection, safe injection techniques, and environmental sanitation.
Observing hand sanitation is vital in avoiding the transmission of diseases among patients and medical professionals (Ankita & Ipsa, 2021). Healthcare professionals should wear personal protective equipment (PPE) suitable for different patient encounters and successfully enclose skin and garments that could be contaminated with blood, secretions, or other infectious substances.
Sharp wounds continue, putting patients and medical workers at risk of contracting blood-borne pathogens. Healthcare professionals should be careful when handling and discarding sharp things. To administer injections as safely as possible and safeguard patients, medical practitioners should adhere to safe injection procedures (Ankita & Ipsa, 2021). The infection control framework should also contain guidelines and processes for routinely cleaning and disinfecting environmental surfaces.
Method of Infection Control to Prevent the Spread of the Patient’s Infection
The nurse should concentrate on infection management to ensure Mr. Brown’s illness does not spread elsewhere. The nurse must also use contact precautions because Mr. Brown’s laceration is infected. Brown should be isolated to avoid transmission through direct or indirect exposure to him and his surroundings. The nurse must always wear an apron and gloves before entering the room. It is also vital for colleagues to impose seclusion measures on guests and other employees who do not follow usual standards to decrease the spread of infections at work. This implies that Brown’s close companions must also take contact precautions before seeing him.
How the Nurse Would Control Further Spread of Infection Within the Hospital
The nurse could use simple guidelines that anybody can observe to minimize the spread of infection across the facility. All healthcare professionals must employ standard safety measures for their safety and that of their patients. Using individual safety gear, hygiene, and appropriate usage and elimination of sharps are various control measures. Antibacterial wipes should be available in public spaces and individual workstations. The nurse could control infections promptly by implementing, overseeing, and ensuring adherence to aseptic working conditions (Carter et al., 2018). They are commonly employed as a key strategy for decreasing the spread of illnesses and as the fundamental tool for controlling infections in institutions providing health services.
Proper PPE and the Consequences of Breaching Proper Donning and Doffing PPE
The nurse must clean her hands, don an apron, and wear a face mask. After that, gloves should be put on and placed over the gown’s sleeves to cover her wrists. As she steps outside, she starts doffing by removing her robe, gloves, and mask before washing her hands. Based on the nature of the task, improper donning and doffing of PPE endanger workers’ well-being (Cordeiro et al., 2022). Self-contamination resulting from incorrect PPE use and failures in care delivery and the donning procedure can result in healthcare workers becoming infected.
Brown may recover quickly if the hospital takes the usual safety measures when treating him. Prudent steps are crucial to stop the spread of illness everywhere. Correct PPE usage, routine hand hygiene, good coughing habits, and a clean, sterilized workplace and tools can all help control infection. Infection control measures should be implemented to inhibit the spread of illness and disrupt the contagion cycle.
References
Ali, U., Ali, S. M., & Hussain, M. (2022). A holistic view of human infectious diseases: Challenges and opportunities. Nanotechnology for Infectious Diseases, 3–24. Web.
Ankita, B., & Ipsa, M. (2021). First year medical students’ and standard precautions: The need for change. Clinical Epidemiology and Global Health, 9, 221–226. Web.
Carter, E. J., Greendyke, W. G., Furuya, E. Y., Srinivasan, A., Shelley, A. N., Bothra, A., Saiman, L., & Larson, E. L. (2018). Exploring the nurses’ role in antibiotic stewardship: A multisite qualitative study of nurses and Infection Preventionists. American Journal of Infection Control, 46(5), 492–497. Web.
Cordeiro, L., Gnatta, J. R., Ciofi-Silva, C. L., Price, A., de Oliveira, N. A., Almeida, R. M. A., Mainardi, G. M., Srinivas, S., Chan, W., Levin, A. S., & Padoveze, M. C. (2022). Personal protective equipment implementation in healthcare: A scoping review. American Journal of Infection Control, 50(8), 898–905. Web.
Popovich, K. J., Calfee, D. P., Patel, P. K., Lassiter, S., Rolle, A. J., Hung, L., Saint, S., & Chopra, V. (2019). The centers for disease control and prevention strive initiative: Construction of a national program to reduce health care–associated infections at the local level. Annals of Internal Medicine, 171(7_Supplement). Web.