[Grace]

Think of a time you or a colleague did not follow IPAC practices. Discuss the situation and potential negative outcomes for clients related to not following the appropriate IPAC practices.

(Post your answer in the discussion below)

[Grace]

Hello Everyone,

I hope you are all looking forward to starting the IPAC course and are ready for more learning.

This course is asynchronous with 1 module each week.
Each week, you are required to review a module and all its contents (readings, videos, activities and the knowledge check) post in discussion posts, and respond to at least one of your peer posts.
Instructions are provided in the module each week as to what activity is required for each module. The instructions are posted within the module/discussion post section, so make sure you access each module each week to not miss any.
There will be an assignment in the final week, and instructions will be provided as well.

You are expected to participate and complete the modules each week, the discussion post is being monitored to ensure participation and receipt of the certificate.
We understand that your other commitments may prevent this for some weeks; if you miss a week, please catch up the following week in addition to that week’s content.

I look forward to all the great ideas and postings for each weekly module.

Thank you,
Grace

[Sara]

If I ever observe a co-worker not adhering to infection control policies, my first course of action would be to take a proactive approach and bring it to their attention in a respectful and non-confrontational manner. I believe in the importance of open communication and constructive feedback and would aim to provide them with the necessary guidance and support needed to implement the proper infection control measures.
If the co-worker is unaware of the guidelines, I would be happy to assist them in learning the guidelines and encourage them to strictly follow them. I would provide them with relevant information and resources, including any policies or procedures they may not know
Furthermore, if I found that the co-worker was not receptive to the feedback or continued to neglect the infection control policies, I would escalate the matter to the appropriate supervisor or manager. I understand that the health and safety of our workplace are of utmost importance and I would take the necessary steps to ensure that everyone is adhering to the infection control policies in place.

[Sara]

Hi
I have attached my answer .

Attachments:

You must be logged in to view attached files.

[Sarah]

I would agree with you about taking action yourself and addressing the issue head on. At times we get caught up in other issues or med passes and forget about infection practices and advising other staff how to adhere to them. Addressing issues at the time they occur is a productive way of trying to break the chain at the beginning. If the healthcare provider does not agree with your approach or with using PPE then a manager should be brought in for further investigation. As nurses we are one of the first lines of defence and have to protect our patients.

[Sherri]

Hello everyone,
I have had a few moments during my career when peers did not follow the IPAC protocol. We all know it can get busy and it can seem easier to skip the gown to do something “quick”. In this particular case my peer went into the room, took out the tray from lunch and put it on the nursing station desk. I saw this and very quickly put on gloves, took the tray while telling the team leader not to let anyone touch the desk until I came back. Upon my return I used the hospital provided antimicrobial/antibacterial wipes and cleaned the desk.
The person was on contact for C-diff and this very easily could have spread to staff, families and to more patients.
I did bring it up at huddle that even when busy we need to be diligent about the IPAC protocols.
thank you
Sherri

[Lourdine]

Attachments:

You must be logged in to view attached files.

[Sarah]

Working on in long term care can be a busy and tiring job. Regardless it’s no excuse for not wearing gloves. I was working with a staff member and she did not wear gloves during personal care of a resident. The one psw provided care to a patient who had shingles. The shingles were in a stage of contagious and 7 residents got shingles due to this staff and I also interjected and reported the incident to the nurses and management team. They handled the situation and i also handled the situation appropriately. Gloves are worn at all time.

[Rahmatu]

Hi Sarah, I agree with you that working in long term care can be quite daunting due to work overload, and as a result staff often tend to skip or compromise on IPAC protocols so as to get tasks done timely. It also baffles me to see some staff handle bodily fluids with ungloved hands, which potentially increases the risk of infection spread.
Interestingly during my hand hygiene audits on my 8-hour shifts, I have noticed that it is not common place to see staff performing hand hygiene, and this ought not to be the case considering the number of residents, the amount of time spent in providing care, and responding to residents’ needs. Good hand hygiene practices are ways that staff can break the chain of infectious disease transmission. Management can better enforce these practices through staff huddles, posters and bulletins, IPAC audits, including implementing a reward system for staff who demonstrate continuous compliance, and disciplinary measures for non-compliance.

[Pallavi]

Hi Sarah,

Thank you for the post. I agree with you that working in a long-term care can be very busy and exhausting given that there are number of residents to look after with a limited number of staff. However, it is no excuse to neglect IPAC practices, especially when the LTC residents are often frail and susceptible to infections due to their underlying medical conditions. I was baffled and concerned going through your post about the PSW neglecting to use appropriate PPE during the patient care, hence resulting in the dire consequences. Since it was a critical incident, I believe you took a correct step by reporting it to the management so that appropriate investigation and actions could be taken. Furthermore, it is always a best course to take the opportunity to reinforce education on staff regarding the importance of following IPAC measures and potential consequence if failure to do so. Neglecting to adopt appropriate PPE/ IPAC measures especially with residents in LTC heightens the risk of outbreaks, leading to increased mortality and morbidity, along with increasing the need of resources with the facility. Hence, it is crucial to follow appropriate IPAC measures to decrease or prevent the risk of infectious transmission. As such, it is essential for the organization to continuously provide education and training to the employees on the importance of IPAC measures, and evaluating if the education provided was effective, which can be done by measures such as regular inspection, surveillance etc.

[Brianne]

During the beginning of Covid, I had a patient that started to choke/aspirate on their food as they were being assisted by their social worker. I had to quickly get into the room with only eye protection and gloves as I was already wearing a KN-95. The patient passed away shortly after due to the circumstances, I put all my other patients at risk of possibly getting Covid-19 at the time, since it was a life or death situation for this patient. The social worker instantly left and got tested for Covid-19 and the rest of us staff were placed on precautions since we still didn’t have a full understanding at the time of what was going on. From my understanding afterwards, the patient and social worker did not have Covid-19 but since we only had the deep swabs, it was hard to make the decision as the nurse to take the extra steps to protect myself or possibly help the patient.

[Rahmatu]

Nosocomial infections are a common occurrence and this can be largely attributed to inadequate infection control practices. I have been opportune to complete my clinical placements in various clinical settings and I am usually stunned by the prevalence of MRSA and VRE infections amongst patients. This incidence is mainly due to improper hygiene practices, staff walking into isolated rooms without the use of proper PPEs, and/or not performing hand hygiene.
At my workplace, as part of IPAC protocols, it is mandated to disinfect equipment used for multiple patients but this is usually not the case as these tasks are often missed, probably due to the demands of the job, ineffective supervision/monitoring of staff compliance with IPAC protocols. Also, nurses are assigned the role of IPAC auditors in addition to their routine job roles, and often times these audits are not completed accurately and/or not conducted in real-time, hence depicting exaggerated results/feedback. These non-compliant practices negate the purpose of IPAC and eventually results in suboptimal patient outcome.

[Pallavi]

During one busy evening, I noted that one of the HCA after providing care to a patient with C.diff was entering a room of another patient without following proper hand hygiene. I immediately stopped the HCA from entering the patient room and reminded her to practice hand hygiene. Furthermore, I provided her education on the importance of following appropriate hand hygiene to reduce or prevent the risk of transmission of infections. I also provided teachings to the HCA how her negligence would have potentially increased the risk of transmission of infections to another client, compromising their health, along with risk of outbreak in the unit which would have caused several consequences such as increase staff workload, disruption in patient care routine, increased morbidity etc. I even brought the situation during team huddle as an opportunity to reinforce education among the staff.
Hence, as a health care professional, I believe we should always adhere to IPAC practice to reduce the risk of burden in our patients as well as organization.

[Author]

Posts