The infection cycle is a cycle that is used to show the way that infection is spread. There are 6 components of the cycle. The 1st component is the infectious agent. This is when the germs enter the body and cause an illness. The 2nd is the reservoir host. This is the person or thing that is caring the germs or infection. Next is the portal of exit. This is how the germs leave the body or the host. The 4th is Transmission. This is how the germs and infection are spread. Next is the portal of entry. This is how the infection enters the next body of host. Lastly is the susceptible host. This is a person who gets the infection because they can not fight off the infection.
Asepsis is maintaining good house keeping standards. Good housekeeping standards are removing any debris that would be in the way, keeping the work space clean and orderly, and removing waste materials. This also means following government regulations as well as educating patients. Government regulations is following HIPPA law and maintaining patient safety. Asepsis is important because it stops the spread of infection as well as keep the office or lab clean and orderly.
There are many ways that a medical assistant would implement proper infection control. Some ways would be to use proper personal protective equipment(PPE), proper hand washing, and sterilizing equipment. Other ways would be maintaining good housekeeping standards, hygiene, following procedure and protocol.
There are 5 major types of infectious agents. The 1st is bacteria. Bacteria is the plural form of bacterium. Bacteria are microorganisms. A type of bacteria is Escherichia Coli. The next infectious agent is virus. A virus is An example of this is influenza or the flu. The 3rd agent is fungi. F...
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...e pH 7, the pH of pure water. Most bacteria require near neutral conditions for optimal growth with minimums and maximums between 4 and 9. Lastly is light and chemicals. Ultraviolet light and the presence of chemical inhibitors may also affect the growth of organisms. Many treatments such as hydrogen peroxide and chlorine can kill or injure microbes. Under certain conditions those given a sub-lethal treatment are injured, but can recover.”
The difference between sterilization and disinfection is sterilization aims to kill while disinfection aims to reduce the number of organisms. According to Differn (n.p.) Sterilization is done by steaming or heating. Disinfection is done by using alcohol, or air disinfection. Sterilization is used in a surgical rooms or on surgical equipment while disinfection is used on surfaces or used directly in the air.
Steam sterilisation is the process where “dry saturated steam comes into contact with a cooler surface, that causes water condensation and immediate release of the latent heat” (Rohanizadeh, 2016). This process was carried out in an autoclave and is the preferred method of sterilisation as the ampoules are sealed and made from glass. Being sealed causes a high amount of pressure to build up inside the ampoule, though in an autoclave they will not burst due to the high pressure in the autoclave equalizing and compensating for the high pressure in the ampoule. If a dry heat method of sterilisation was used, e.g. an oven, the ampoules would burst due to evaporation of the solution occurring, and no compensation or equalised pressure availability, like we see in the autoclave.
With an eye on patient safety, what clinical services may a medical assistant perform in your medical practice?
Lastly, Medical assistants are of great help to the physicians they work for. They make it possible for the practitioners to be effective in their practice. Just like all the other practitioners in the medical field, the medical assistants are expected to maintain high standards in the field. For the medical assistants this will include acting on the instructions given by the practitioners and adhering to the code of ethics as set by AAMA. The medical assistants are also expected to make sound decisions when faced with medical dilemmas. All this should be focused on giving the patient quality care.
As medical assistants we are trained in both clinical and administrative duties, which is a unique skill, and sets us apart from other healthcare professionals. Administrative duties include tasks such as answering telephones, greeting patients, appointment scheduling, and arranging hospital admissions and laboratory services. Clinical duties include responsibilities such as taking medical histories, educating patients on any medical procedures, drawing blood, collecting specimens, and assisting the physician during exams. Because of the growing demand and extensive training of medical assistants, there is never a problem finding work in hospitals, clinics, or private doctors’ offices. (American Association of Medical Assistants, What is a Medical
.... For example, cleaning and sterilizing instruments and disposing of contaminated materials. Using analytical skills they will record medical information and test results ( ). These are all common duties needed to be done to fulfill a job as a Certified Medical Assistant but it usually depends on the location and the company itself.
The focus of health care is and has always been, practicing good hygiene, living a healthy lifestyle, and having a positive attitude reduces the chance of getting ill. Although there is not much prevention we can take for some of the diseases but we can certainly practice good hand hygiene to prevent infection and its ill effects. Research proves that hand washing is surely the most easy and effective way to prevent infection in health care. The question for this research: Is Hand washing an effective way to prevent infection in health care? It led to the conclusion that due to the high acuity, high patient: staff ratio, and lack of re evaluation certain units in the health care facilities cannot adhere to correct hand washing guidelines. Hand
Numerous studies have reported that hand hygiene reduces health care associated infection rates. Compliance to proper hand hygiene guidelines continues to be low among health care workers. To improve hand hygiene performance and have continued compliance over time, the need to find out what the barriers are need to be sought out. These may include poor access to hand hygiene information, skin irritation, forgetfulness, time constraints, a perception that hand hygiene interferes with worker-patient relationships, lack of knowledge of hand hygiene guidelines, and poor habits learned early in life (KuKanich, Kaur, Freeman, & Powell, 2013, p.
As you exit the bus, another passenger next to you starts to cough, and then you hold the handrail as you exit the bus. Since you’re late getting home, you take a shortcut through a field to get home quicker. These three simple acts just exposed you to bacteria, viruses, and insects that could cause illness or even death. Infectious diseases, also known as communicable disease, are spread by germs. Germs are living things that are found in the air, in the soil, and in water. You can be exposed to germs in many ways, including touching, eating, drinking or breathing something that contains a germ. Animal and insect bites can also spread germs.1
In health care facilities many sick patients are treated in isolated or confined spaces. This means that many microorganisms are present in these areas. Patients come in contact with many health care workers (HCW) who can potentially help the spread of these microorganisms and infections between their patients.
Thus, for the purpose of this paper, I will be describing a scenario that I witnessed where a Registered Care Aide (RCA) provided care in an inappropriate manner by means of hand hygiene and highlight the importance of infection control as a way to minimize nosocomial infections and contamination of the surrounding
In addition to vaccinating all employees, you should also promote good hygiene in the workplace, primarily by organizing comprehensive hand-washing campaigns. The importance of regular hand-washing cannot be overemphasized. Where sinks are unavailable, provide hand sanitizer wipes. Also, make sure all public spaces and communal areas are cleaned regularly.
The movie Outbreak is a wonderful portrayal of how the Chain of Infection works in an epidemic and pandemic outbreak of a disease. The shows how quickly the disease gained power and was responsible for sickness and death in a small community. Pathogens that invade the body have 5 requirements for a successful invasion on their host whether it is a human or animal. I will further review how the movie successfully reflects the reservoir/host, portal of exit, mode of transmission, portal of entry and susceptible host to provide the perfect Outbreak of the disease. The same model still used today in science.
Hospital acquired infections are one of the most common complications of care in the hospital setting. Hospital acquired infections are infections that patients acquired during the stay in the hospital. These infections can cause an increase number of days the patients stay in the hospital. Hospital acquired infections makes the patients worse or even causes death. “In the USA alone, hospital acquired infections cause about 1.7 million infections and 99,000 deaths per year”(secondary).
Infection control is very important in the health care profession. Health care professionals, who do not practice proper infection control, allow themselves to become susceptible to a number of infections. Among the most dreaded of these infections are: hepatitis B (HBV), hepatitis C (HCV), and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Another infection which has more recently increased in prevalence is methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). These infections are all treated differently. Each infection has its own symptoms, classifications, and incubation periods. These infections are transmitted in very similar fashions, but they do not all target the same population.
A pathogen which is a germ or infection causes disease or illness to cells it