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1. Establish and maintain infection control policies and procedures.
- Implement written policies and procedures according to published guidelines.
- Ensure staff members are familiar with policies and procedures and review regularly.
- Update written policies and procedures regularly.
2. Properly use and handle needles, cannulae and syringes.
- Whenever possible, use sharps with engineered sharps injury protections. Do not disable or circumvent the safety feature on devices.
- Needles, cannulae and syringes are:
- Sterile, single-use items; any use will result in these items being contaminated.
- Contaminated once used to enter or connect to any component of a patient’s intravenous infusion set.
- Medication from a syringe must not be administered to multiple patients even if the needle on the syringe is changed.
- Dispose of all needles and syringes immediately into a leakproof, puncture-resistant, closable container.
- Develop policies and procedures to prevent sharps injuries among staff and review regularly.
3. Properly handle medications and solutions.
- Designate separate areas for preparation and disposing medications.
- Minimize use of multidose vials; use single-dose vials for parenteral medications whenever possible.
- If multidose vials must be used:
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- Always use aseptic technique.
- A new needle/cannula and a new syringe must be used to access the multidose vial.
- Do not keep the vials in the immediate patient treatment area.
- Do not administer medications from single-dose vials or ampules to multiple patients or combine leftover contents for later.
- Do not use bags or bottles of intravenous solution as a common source of medication or fluid for multiple patients.
- Use infusion sets for one patient only and dispose appropriately after use.
4. Strictly adhere to aseptic technique.
- Ensure all staff members perform proper hand hygiene before and after gloving, between patients and whenever hands are soiled.
- Avoid cross contamination with soiled gloves.
- Provide adequate soap/water, disposable paper towels and waterless alcohol-based hand rubs throughout the facility.
5. Properly reprocess medical equipment
- Follow manufacturer’s recommendations for proper cleaning, disinfection and sterilization of all reusable equipment.
- Designate staff responsible for maintaining proper reprocessing procedures.
- Ensure designated staff members are properly trained in reprocessing each piece of equipment.
- Never reprocess equipment designated for single use.
- Maintain a log of all equipment reprocessing.
6. Fulfill all federal and state requirements for infection control training
- All healthcare personnel must complete bloodborne pathogen control training regularly.
- All licensed healthcare professionals must meet infection control training, in accordance to varying state laws.
- Documentation of appropriate training must be maintained both by the course provider and course participant.
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