Introduction to Infection Control

Introduction

Date of Last Review 9/5/08
SME: Infection Control Manager

This topic provides general information about the Infection Control Plan.

Purpose

The Infection Control Plan assists in providing a high level of patient care by reducing the ever-present risk of nosocomial infection of the patients and staff through:

Surveillance

Prevention

Control

Continuous review and evaluation of infection control practices

Coordinating department

The Department of Nursing coordinates the Infection Control Plan.

Goals

This table describes the goals of the Infection Control Plan:

Goal	Description
Prevention	Prevent nosocomial infection in staff and patients through: Education about infection control guidelines Procedure review and evaluation Coordination with all hospital departments
Surveillance	Identify baseline information about the frequency and type of nosocomial infections Identify clusters or significant deviations from endemic level Report to departments and outside agencies when necessary Including: Public Health Investigate as needed Monitor handwashing practices of direct care staff
Control	Identify patients and/or staff with communicable or potentially communicable infections Institute appropriate measures Advise hospital staff of control procedures indicated Serve as an information resource for all departments on various disinfection and cleaning products and procedures.

Infection classifications

The Infection Control Plan designates infections as either community acquired or nosocomial:

Classification	Description
Nosocomial	An infection not present or incubating at the time of admission An infection, with an unknown incubation period, that develops after admission An infection present on admission that is directly related to or is the residual of a previous admission An infection indicated as nosocomial in a patient chart, by a physician
Community acquired	An infection present at the time of admission Exception: An infection present on admission is nosocomial if it is directly related to or is the residual of a previous admission. All infections that fail to satisfy the requirements for nosocomial infections

General principles of infection

The Infection Control Plan considers the following factors in the prevention, surveillance, and control of infections in hospital staff and patients at UTHCPC:

The spread of infection within the hospital requires three essential elements:

A source of infecting organisms

A means of transmission for the organism

A susceptible host

The transmission may occur:

By direct or indirect contact

Through airborne, vehicle, or vector means

Threshold infection rate

The CDC designates the threshold infection rate.

Caution: Ensure that the rate in question is the most current CDC recommendation.

Nosocomial infection rate equation

The Infection Control Practitioner calculates the nosocomial infection rate using this equation:

# of nosocomial infections for the month x 100 = infection rate
# of discharges for the month

Nosocomial infection rate report

The Infection Control Practitioner reports the nosocomial infection rate to the Infection Control Committee periodically.

Result: The committee reviews the surveillance data to evaluate the endemic levels of infection.

New employee orientation

UTHCPC includes the following infection control information in the new employee orientation classes that all new employees must complete:

Philosophy of the Infection Control Plan

General information about infections

Techniques for prevention, surveillance, investigation, and control

Infection control policies and procedures

Employee health policies

Reporting reference

See Reportable Disease Information in Section F of this chapter.

Goals if the program based on Infection Control Risk assessment are:

1. 100% of suspected cases of the following; illnesses will be investigated

              Community acquired pneumonia

              Organizationally acquired illness

              Tuberculosis

2. 100% of reported needlestick and sharps injuries will be investigated for preventative causes.

3. Staff will maintain a 90% or greater compliance on handwashing during observation.

4. Influenza vaccination will be offered to 100% of the staff and to 80% of patients 65 years of age and older.

Related standards

The Joint Commission : Surveillance, Prevention, and Control of Infection

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