Contact Precautions

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During this clinical semester I was assigned a patient who was on contact precautions. At the beginning of the clinical day, I noticed that a nurse tech assigned to the patient entered the patient room to perform a vital sign check without putting on personal protective equipment that was placed outside of the room door per facility policy. The staff member did put on gloves; however, upon exiting the room the employee removed the gloves and only used the antimicrobial foam instead of washing their hands per protocol. The nurse assigned to the patient also witnessed the nonuse of personal protective equipment by the nurse tech but did not verbalize the importance of following facility policy and procedures.
This scenario demonstrated a bad example of best practice because the nurse tech did not follow proper procedure for safe practice. If a patient is on contact precaution, healthcare workers should wear personal protective equipment whenever they enter the patient’s room. This should be done for all interactions that could involve contact with the patient and any potential …show more content…

I know that the gown will cover and me and keep my uniform secure from substances. Putting on gloves will protect my wrists and hands from microorganisms. If I must wear a mask, it will help protect me from droplet nuclei. Any needed eyewear will protect my mucous membranes. I also know that washing my hands with soap and water before I leave the patient’s room will help to ensure that I do not carry any microorganisms out of the room with me that will potentially cause contamination to others. By continuing to follow the proper procedures I will be instilling in myself the use of interventions in the correct manner during patient care and will be using best practice protocols that also help to keep me and other

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