Nursing Practices: Reducing Cross-Contamination

According to CDC, hand washing is the only best to reduce cross-contamination. As usually as wash my hand and don gloves in order to reduce cross-contamination. I followed evidence based practice when provided morning care and later in the afternoon when I provided perineal care for the patient.

ANA and MC policies state that Nurses and nursing students are responsible for their own actions whenever they make clinical decisions. As a nursing student whenever I do any kind of clinical procedures, first I explain to the patient and make sure that patient understand the procedure. Understanding of the procedure reduces anxiety level and prepares the patient for the procedure. For example, though the patient I was helping today had hearing

the patient was in pain, and I decided not to give him bed bath instead I explained the situation to the nurse, and she administered pain medication.

As we know patients have a unique set of values that are influenced by their culture and spirituality. As a nursing student, I have a responsibility to demonstrate respect for my patients cultural and spiritual beliefs. For example, while I was providing morning care the patient’s grandson came in, and I respectfully asked the patient if it was okay for his grandson to stay in the room while I provided care. thus, in this situation I tried respect the health practices. There were no cultural issues. It is all nursing students’ responsibility to advocate for the rights of all clients. For instance, when I started my shift I noticed that my patient was in pain and I asked the patient to evaluate pain on a scale of 0 to 10. The patient reported pain of 7, so immediately I notified the nurse. And the nurse gave him pain medication. In this situation, I tried to be a patient’s advocate and solved the patient’s

I gave comfort care educations for patient’s family. I taught patient and family how to reposition in order to prevent pressure ulcer. In addition, I taught them the benefit of placing pillows behind the patient 's back so that he stays in position and also placing a pillow between the legs to prevent friction. In addition, I show them how to put elbow and heel protection.

4. Demonstrate teamwork and collaboration

Communication is the key method to exchange patients’ information between nurses, doctors and another health care teams.

My patient has advanced MS, which affects his hearing and vision. Before I interviewing the patient, I closed the door and muted the TV to reduce background noises. I spoke clearly at a normal volume level, and I stood at the eye level of the patient and started asking the questions. On the side, while I was doing the vital signs, the temperature reading of my patient was high, and I immediately notified the