Dementia and Asepsis

Assisting a Confused Resident

• Stay calm and provide a quiet environment for a confused resident.
• Confusion can be caused by a urinary tract infection.

Cognition

• Cognition is the ability to think logically and clearly.

Alzheimer's Disease (AD)

• Skills a person has used over a lifetime are usually kept longer in Alzheimer's Disease.
• Check her body language to make sure she is not tense or hurried when a resident with AD is frightened.
• Repeat herself using the same words when a resident with AD shows memory loss.
• Use touch, smiles, and laughter for a resident with AD who has lost most of their verbal skills.
• Mark the bathroom with a sign or picture if a resident with AD is incontinent.
• Schedule bathing when the resident is least agitated if a resident with AD has problems with bathing.
• Use dishes without a pattern and a simple place setting to help a resident with AD with eating.
• Lay out clothes in the order they should be put on for a resident with AD who has problems with dressing.
• Reassure a resident who is upset and worried to respond to hallucinations.
• Setting a bedtime routine and keeping it can help a nursing assistant respond to sun-downing.
• Answer questions each time they are asked when a resident with AD perseverates.
• Remove triggers if a resident with AD shows violent behavior.
• Use short words, pictures, and gestures when a resident with AD cannot understand basic instructions.
• Take the resident to a private area to respond to inappropriate sexual behavior.
• Provide a rummage drawer when a resident with AD pillages and hoards.
• Using reality orientation is a good idea for residents with AD in early stages of AD.
• An NA makes no attempt to reorient the resident to actual circumstances when using validation therapy.
• Reminiscence therapy involves having residents with Alzheimer's disease remember and talk about the past.

Clean vs. Dirty

• Clean healthcare objects have not been contaminated with pathogens.
• Dirty healthcare objects have been contaminated with pathogens.

Infections

• Healthcare-associated infections are infections that patients acquire within healthcare settings that result from treatment for other conditions.
• Infection occurs when pathogens invade the body and multiply.
• Infection control includes measures practiced in healthcare facilities to prevent and control the spread of disease.
• Localized infection is an infection that is confined to a specific location in the body.
• Systemic infection is an infection that is in the bloodstream and is spread throughout the body.
• Medical asepsis is the process of removing pathogens, or the state of being free of pathogens.

Microorganisms and Pathogens

• Microorganisms or microbes tiny living things that cannot be seen without a microscope.
• Pathogens are harmful microorganisms.
• Surgical asepsis is the state of being free from all microorganisms not just pathogens.
• A causative agent is a pathogen or microorganism that causes disease.
• A reservoir is a place where a pathogen lives and grows.
• A portal of exit is an opening on an infected person that lets pathogens leave.
• Pathogens travel from one person to another through a mode of transportation.
• A portal of entry is an opening on an uninfected person that lets the pathogens enter.
• A susceptible host is an uninfected person who could get sick.

Risk of Infection

• The elderly have a higher risk for infection than younger people.
• It is normal for a person's immune system to grow weaker as they age.
• Limited mobility increases the risk of pressure sores among the elderly.
• Nutrition and fluid intake play a part in helping prevent infection.
• The elderly are not less likely than younger people to have healthcare associated infections.
• Infections are not less dangerous in the elderly than in younger people.
• NAs play an important role in protecting elderly residents from infection.
• Redness and swelling are not common symptoms of a systemic infection.
• Fever, chills, and mental confusion are symptoms of systemic infection.
• Standard precautions mean treating all blood, body fluids, non-intact skin, and mucous membranes as if they were infected with an infectious disease.
• Standard precautions relate to all body fluids including saliva.
• You cannot usually tell if someone is infectious just by looking at them.
• The Center for Disease Control and Prevention is a government agency that issues information to protect the health of individuals and communities.
• Wash your hands before putting on gloves.
• Syringes should not be recapped after use.
• Giving mouth care will require you to wear gloves.
• It is a good idea to wear a mask and protective goggles if you are emptying a bedpan.
• You need to wear gloves when cleaning a urinal.

Standard Precautions

• Standard precautions should be practiced on every single person in your care.
• Standard precautions include wearing gloves if there is a possibility you will come into contact with blood, body fluids, mucous membranes, or broken skin.
• Transmission based or isolation precautions are practiced in addition to standard precautions.
• You will come in contact with microorganisms every time you touch something.
• The CDC defines hand hygiene as hand washing with soap and water and using alcohol-based hand rubs.
• Alcohol-based hand rubs are used in addition to washing with soap and water.
• It is a bad idea to wear artificial nails to work because they harbor bacteria and increase the risk of contamination.
• Use friction when lathering and washing your hands for 20 seconds.
• A mask should be worn when caring for residents with respiratory illnesses.
• Goggles provide protection for your eyes.
• Wear mucous gloves if there is a chance you could come into contact with membranes or open wounds.
• A mask, gloves, goggles, and gowns are all examples of PPE.
• Disinfection is a process that kills pathogens, but not all microorganisms.
• Disposable items are only to be used once and then discarded.
• Sterilization is a measure that destroys all microorganisms, including pathogens.

Sanitation Procedures

• Handle equipment to avoid skin or mucous membrane contact.
• Avoid contamination of your clothing and hold linen and clothing away from your uniform.
• Prevent transfer of disease to other residents and areas by not shaking linen or clothes; fold or roll linen so that the dirtiest area is inside.
• Clean and reprocess reusable equipment properly before using again and dispose of single use or disposable equipment properly.
• Bag soiled linen at the point of origin.
• Clean and disinfect all frequently touched surfaces such as call lights.
• Place wet linen in leak proof bags.
• You need to wear gloves to clean up a small spill.
• Do not place a disinfectant directly on the spilled fluid before absorbing and removing the fluid.
• It is not ok to use your hands to pick up large pieces of broken glass and use a broom and dustpan for smaller pieces.
• Waste containing blood or body fluids should not be disposed of in the trash can in the cafeteria.
• An absorbing powder may be used to absorb the spill before removing it.
• Transmission based precautions are used in addition to standard precautions.
• Dedicated equipment refers to equipment that is only used by one resident.
• When caring for residents in isolation, NAs should remove PPE before exiting a resident's room.
• A resident in isolation has the same basic human needs.
• Blood borne diseases can be transmitted by infected blood entering your bloodstream.
• In healthcare, the most common way to get a blood borne disease is by contact with infected blood or certain body fluids.
• The human immunodeficiency virus weakens the immune system so that the body cannot fight infection.
• HBV can be transmitted through blood or needles that are contaminated with the virus.
• Employers must offer employees a free vaccine to protect them from hepatitis B.
• The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is a federal government agency that protects workers from hazards on the job.
• The Blood Borne Pathogens Standard is a law that requires that healthcare employers must have a written exposure control plan designed to eliminate or reduce employee exposure to infectious material.
• OSHA considers needle sticks significant exposures.
• According to OSHA employers must give all employees, residents, and visitors PPE to use when needed.
• It is important for employees to report any potential exposures immediately to protect the employees health and the health of others.

Tuberculosis

• Tuberculosis may be transmitted by coughing.
• Tuberculosis is an airborne disease.
• Someone with latent TB cannot infect others.
• A person with active TB can infect others.
• TB disease is more likely to develop in people whose immune systems are weakened.
• One major factor in the spread of TB is failure to take all the medication prescribed.
• MRSA is almost always spread by direct physical contact.
• Once VRE is established it is relatively easy to get rid of it.
• MRSA can be spread through indirect contact by touching contaminated objects.
• Hand washing will help control the spread of MRSA.
• VRE causes life threatening infections in people with compromised immune systems.
• You can help prevent the spread of VRE by washing your hands often.
• Proper hand washing and handling of contaminated wastes can help prevent clostridium difficile.
• Increasing the use of antibiotics does not help to lower the risk of developing C. difficile diarrhea.

Infection Prevention

• Infection prevention is a set of methods used to prevent the spread of disease.
• An NA wearing gloves represents a broken link, thus preventing the spread of disease, in the chain of infection to prevent mode of transmission from spreading disease.
• An NA gets a vaccination shot for hepatitis B which link will be affected and thus prevent hepatitis B infection susceptible host: person who is likely to get the disease.
• A nursing assistant will come into contact with microorganisms every time the NA touches something.
• The single most important thing the NA can do to prevent the spread of disease is to wash her hands.
• The elderly are at a higher risk of infection because they may have limited mobility.
• An NA should use standard precautions with every resident in his care.
• Under standard precautions the term body fluids includes urine.
• Hand hygiene is washing hands with either plain or antiseptic soap and water or using alcohol-based hand rubs.
• When washing hands an NA should use friction for at least 30 seconds.
• Gloves should be changed before contact with mucous membranes.
• The proper order to don PPE is to put on gown mask and goggles and gloves.
• Disinfection kills some pathogens but not all of them.
• Put on gloves when it is the first step that she should take to clean up a spill.
• Transmission based precautions are practiced in addition to standard precautions.
• Bloodborne pathogens can be transmitted by contact with blood or body fluids.
• The vaccine for HBV helps prevent the disease; employers have an exposure control plan.
• Tuberculosis may be transmitted by coughing; it is an airborne disease.
• A person with TB disease can spread it to others.
• MRSA is most often spread by direct physical contact.
• The best way to control the spread of MRSA is through proper handwashing.
• The best way to control the spread of c difficile is through proper handwashing and handling of contaminated wastes.
• An NA responsibility related to infection prevention includes following standard precautions in caring for all residents.

Infection Definitions

• Infection prevention is the set of methods practiced in healthcare facilities to prevent and control the spread of disease.
• A microorganism is a living thing or organism that is so small that it can be seen only under a microscope; also called a microbe.
• Infection is the state resulting from pathogens invading the body and multiplying.
• Pathogens are microorganisms that are capable of causing infection and disease.
• A local infection is an infection that is limited to a specific location in the body and has local symptoms.
• A systemic infection is an infection that travels through the bloodstream and is spread throughout the body, causing general symptoms.
• A healthcare-associated infection (HAI) is an infection acquired within a healthcare setting during the delivery of medical care.
• The Chain of infection is a way of describing how disease is transmitted from one being to another.
• A causative agent is a pathogenic microorganism that causes disease.
• A reservoir is a place where a pathogen lives and multiplies.
• A portal of exit is any body opening on an infected person that allows pathogens to leave.
• Mode of transmission is the method of describing how a pathogen travels.

Contacts

• Direct contact describes a way of transmitting pathogens through touching the infected person or his or her secretions.
• Indirect contact describes a way of transmitting pathogens from touching an object contaminated by an infected person.
• A portal of entry is any body opening on an uninfected person that allows pathogens to enter.
• Mucous membranes are the membranes that line body cavities that open to the outside of the body, such as the linings of the mouth, nose, eyes, rectum, or genitals.
• A susceptible host is an uninfected person who can become sick.
• Transmission describes passage or transfer of infection.
• Infectious describes a disease which is contagious.
• Medical asepsis is made up of measures used to reduce and prevent the spread of pathogens.
• Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is a federal government agency that makes rules to protect workers from hazards on the job.
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is a federal government agency that issues guidelines to protect and improve the health of individuals and communities.
• Standard Precautions describes a method of infection prevention in which all blood, body fluids, non-intact skin, and mucous membranes are treated as if they were infected with an infectious disease.
• Sharps include Needles or other sharp objects.
• Personal protective equipment (PPE) describes equipment that helps protect employees from serious workplace injuries or illnesses resulting from contact with workplace hazards.

PPE

• Don means to put on.
• Doff means to remove.
• Perineal care is the care of the genitals and anal area.
• Disinfection is a process that destroys most, but not all, pathogens; it reduces the pathogen count to a level that is considered not infectious.
• Sterilization is a cleaning measure that destroys all microorganisms, including pathogens.
• Disposable items should be used only once and then discarded.
• Transmission-Based Precautions describe a method of infection prevention used when caring for person who are infected or may be infected with certain infectious diseases.
• Multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs) are microorganisms, mostly bacteria, that are resistant to one or more antimicrobial agents that are commonly used for treatment.
• Isolate means to keep something separate, or by itself.

Virus and Infections

• HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) is the virus that attacks the body's immune system and gradually disables it; eventually can cause AIDS.
• Hepatitis is inflammation of the liver caused by certain viruses and other factors, such as alcohol abuse, some medications, and trauma.
• Jaundice is a condition in which the skin, whites of the eyes, and mucous membranes appear yellow.
• The Bloodborne Pathogens Standard is federal law that requires that healthcare facilities protect employees from bloodborne health hazards.
• An exposure control plan is a plan designed to eliminate or reduce employee exposure to infectious material.
• Tuberculosis (TB) is a highly contagious lung disease that causes fatigue, loss of appetite, slight fever, prolonged coughing, and shortness of breath.
• Resistant means a state in which drugs no longer work to kill specific bacteria.
• Phlegm means thick mucus from the respiratory passage.
• MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) is an infection that is resistant to the antibiotic methicillin.
• VRE (vancomycin-resistant enterococcus) is bacteria that have developed resistance to the antibiotic vancomycin.
• Clostridium difficile (C. diff, C. difficile) is a bacterium that is spread by spores in the feces that are difficult to kill; it causes symptoms such as diarrhea and nausea and can lead to serious inflammation of the colon (colitis).
• Antibacterials destroy bacteria or suppress the growth of bacteria.

This quiz covers essential concepts related to dementia, including appropriate actions for confused residents and communication strategies for those with Alzheimer's disease. It also addresses key principles of asepsis and hand hygiene in healthcare settings.