Standard Precautions

What Standard Precautions include

• Hand hygiene before and after patient contact, after contact with blood, body fluids or contaminated surfaces, and after removing gloves.
• Personal protective equipment chosen by the expected exposure, not the diagnosis: gloves for blood, body fluids, mucous membranes or nonintact skin; a gown when skin or clothing may be soiled; a mask and eye protection or a face shield when splashes or sprays are likely.
• Respiratory hygiene and cough etiquette for anyone with signs of a respiratory infection, starting at the point of entry.
• Safe injection practices: a sterile, single-use needle and syringe for each injection.
• A surgical mask when placing a catheter or injecting material into the spinal canal or subdural space (for example myelograms, lumbar punctures, spinal or epidural anesthesia).
• Cleaning and reprocessing of reusable patient-care equipment, and routine cleaning and disinfection of environmental surfaces, especially those touched often.
• Handling used textiles and laundry with minimum agitation.
• Preventing sharps injuries, and using mouthpieces, resuscitation bags or other ventilation devices instead of mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

Patient placement

• No special room is required.
• Patients who are more likely to spread infection — for example with uncontained secretions, excretions or wound drainage — should be placed in a single room when one is available.