Hand Hygiene, Waste Management, and PPE Guidelines PDF

Hand hygiene, waste management, PPE, sharps and spillages Gareth Thomas – Consultant Nurse Learning outcomes By the end of this session, you should have a greater understand of: Hand hygiene including ‘My 5 moments for Hand Hygiene’ Personal protective equipment (PPE) – incorpora...

Hand hygiene, waste management, PPE, sharps and spillages Gareth Thomas – Consultant Nurse Learning outcomes By the end of this session, you should have a greater understand of: Hand hygiene including ‘My 5 moments for Hand Hygiene’ Personal protective equipment (PPE) – incorporating standard IPC precautions Safe management of sharps Spillages – including how to manage spillages in clinical environments  Hand hygiene – a corner stone of Standard Infection Control Precautions (SICPs) Hand hygiene is the single most effective infection control measure Hands are the main pathways of transmission during healthcare Implementing robust hand hygiene measures can prevent up to 50% of avoidable healthcare acquired infections  What is hand hygiene? Hand hygiene is a way of cleaning your hands that substantially reduces potential pathogens (harmful germs) on your hands Hand hygiene procedures include: The use of alcohol hand rub The use of soap and water Remember: the use of gloves does not replace the need for cleaning your hands! Alcohol based hand rub or soap and water? Remember: Alcohol based hand rubs are not effective against C.diff spores and Norovirus. Always use soap and water! Technique Matters How long do you think hand washing should take? My ‘5’ moments for hand hygiene Out of the 5 moments, which ‘moment’ do you think is most missed? Best Practice – Bare Below the Elbows (BBE) The All-Wales Dress Code was developed to encompass the principles of inspiring confidence, preventing infection and for the safety of the workforce  Barriers to effective hand hygiene Time pressure – hand washing takes too long Forgetfulness Patient needs perceived priority over hand hygiene Sinks poorly located Skin irritation Hands do not look dirty Lack of understanding Waste Managemen t  Waste management – another SICP Waste should be disposed of as close to the point of use as possible Waste bins should be hands free, hard bodies and have a lid Bags should be no more than ¾ full All waste bags should be sealed appropriately Waste should be ‘tagged’ in accordance with local waste policy Remember to wash your hands!  Waste management – know your bags (clinical) Offensive Waste Infectious Waste Anatomical Waste Waste management – know your bags (non-clinical) Sharps Safety  Sharps safety – another SICP Most needlestick injuries can be prevented with good practice Needlestick injuries are highest amongst Nurses (account for over 50% of incidents) Between 2012-2022 needlestick injuries cost the NHS in excess of £10.8million Needlestick injuries increase the risk of blood-borne infections (hepatitis B, C and HIV) Never fill sharps boxes above the ‘fill line’ and remember to sign and date! Remember Health & Safety Laws apply (Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) 2002, Management of Health & Safety Regulations 1999, Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 (RIDDOR)  Know your sharps Purple lid for Yellow lids for Orange lid for sharps sharps with sharps contaminated medicinal without with cytotoxic contamination medicinal or cytostatic (non- contamination products cytotoxic)  1. Encourage the wound to bleed under running water What should you 2. Wash the affected area with soap and water (do not suck or scrub the wound) do if you sustain 3. Dry the wound and cover with a a sharps injury? waterproof plaster or dressing 4. Seek medical advice – usually occupational health in hours or MIU/ED department out of hours 5. Inform your line manager The Health Board/Trust you are 6. Report via DATIX placed in should have a sharps policy, which is usually available via the intranet Remember to make a note of the patient details, if required. Don’t allow this to happen!  Management of blood and body fluid spillages – another SICP! Bodily substances refers to fluid or tissue either directly from a patient or indirectly from specimen The most common types that you will encounter include wound exudate, vomit, sputum, urine and not forgetting faeces! Spillages of blood and bodily fluids are deemed hazardous and must be dealt with immediately (not left for the next shift!) Bodily fluids/substances must be cleaned by Nursing/Department staff – it is not the responsibility of the domestic! Posters related to spillages Thank you