Breaking the Chain of Infection

Infection can easily spread in the clinical area. You have studied that all links in the chain of infection must be connected. Therefore it is your responsibility to break the chain & prevent the spread of infection.

1. State six (6) essential factors in the chain of infection and give two (2) example for each factor.

 

An infection occurs when there are presence of a pathogen. All components of the chain must be present and intact for the infection to occur.

Components of the chain include:-

 

No	Factor	Explanation	Example
1.	Infectious agent	Pathogens – disease causing organisms	Bacteria, fungi, viruses and protozoa
2.	Reservoir	Any place an infectious agent can survive, grow or multiply	Plants, animals, soil, water, medical equipments, oxygen tubing. Human body is the most common reservoir.
3.	Portal of exit	Path which infectious agent leaves the reservoir	Body fluids, mouth and nose, respiratory tract, skin and mucous membrane and transplacental route from mother to the unborn infant.
4.	Mode of transmission	Since microorganisms cannot travel on their own, they require a vehicle to carry them to other people and places	1. Contact – direct (person to person), indirect (object or surface), droplet 2. Airborne – longer distance over a greater time 3. Ingestion of contaminated food or water 4. Vector – living creature, insects
5.	Portal of entry	Path which infectious agent enter the host. Any opening on the body can be a portal of entry	Respiratory tract, ears, eyes, gastrointestinal tract, genitourinary tract, broken skin.
6.	Susceptible host	Any person who is at risk for infection.	Young children, elderly people, people with low immunity (due to malnutrition, genetics)

2. Explain ten (10) nursing interventions to break the chain of infection.

Nurse uses infection control practices (e.g. medical asepsis, surgical asepsis, standard precautions) to break the chain and to stop the spread of infection.

 

 

 

 

No	Nursing intervention	Rationale
1.	Educate support service personnels about appropriate methods of cleaning, disinfect and sterilize equipments and devices.	Knowledge of ways to reduce or eliminate microorganisms is a step of gaining compliance with aseptic practices.
2.	Assist patient to carry out appropriate skin and oral hygiene.	Hygiene measures reduce the numbers of microorganisms and the likelihood of infection.
3.	Change dressing and bandage when they are soiled and wet.	Moist dressing is an ideal environment for microorganisms to grow and multiply.
4.	Dispose of damp and soiled linens.	Damp and soiled linens provide an environment for microorganisms to grow.
5.	Dispose of feces and urine.	Feces and urine contain many microorganisms. Feces may also be the source of certain microorganisms such as Hep A virus.
6.	Ensure all fluid containers for example water jug, suction tube and drainage bottles are covered or capped.	Prolonged exposure incerease the risk of contamination by airborne pathogens.
7.	Empty suction tube and drainage bottles at the end of each shift or before it is full.	If it is left too long, drainage may harbour microorganisms, it will prolifarate and have the risk of transmitting to others.
8.	Avoid talking, coughing or sneezing over an open wound or sterile fields. Cover the mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing.	These will limit the number of microorganisms escape from the respiratory tract.
9.	Perform hand hygiene as per guideline. 1. Before touching a patient 2. Before clean / aseptic procedure 3. after body fluid exposure risk 4. After touching a patient 5. after touching patient surroundings	Hand hygiene is an important means of controlling and preventing the transmission of microorganisms.
10.	Wear mask and eye protection when in close contact with patient who has infection transmitted by droplets from the respiratory tract.	Masks and goggles provide protection from microorganisms in patient’s blood, body fluids, non-intact skin and mucous membrane.
11.	Use sterile technique for invasive procedures such as injection and catheterization.	Invasive procedure penetrate the body natural protection barriers - skin (which is the 1st line defence mechanism) to microorganisms.
12.	Use sterile technique when expressing open wound or handling dressing.	Open wound is vulnerable to microbial infection.
13.	Provide all patients with their own personal care items.	People have less resistance to another person's microorganisms than to their own.
14.	Maintain the integrity of patient’s skin and mucous membrane.	Intact skin and mucous membrane protect againts invasion by microorganisms.
15.	Ensure patient receives a balanced diet.	A balanced diet supplies proteins and vitamins necessary to build and maintain body tissues and also production of enzymes and hormones.
16.	Educate the public about the importance of immunizations.	Immunizations protect people from some infectious diseases.