Although medical and nursing staff employ the use of standard and additional precautions the single most important thing that staff can do whilst working is perform effective hand washing to reduce the risks of cross contamination. Everyone has some form of resident flora on their body, this helps the host to stay healthy but when this resident flora is transferred by contact to another person this may cause the person to become ill. In addition to this resident flora a person picks up infectious particles through contact with other people or environmental surroundings (Koutoukidis et al, 2013, p 361). The most effective way an enrolled nurse or other health care workers can decrease the risk of transmission of these infectious organisms is
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The most common signage for hand hygiene is the utilisation of the five moments for hand hygiene. This includes :-
The 5 Moments for Hand Hygiene
Moment 1: Hand hygiene must be performed before touching a client
Moment 2: Hand hygiene must be performed immediately before a procedure
Moment 3: Hand hygiene must be performed following a procedure or potential body fluid exposure
Moment 4: Hand hygiene must be performed after touching a client
Moment 5: Hand hygiene must be performed after touching the client’s environment, without touching the …show more content…
By the Enrolled Nurse washing their hands effectively this reduces the risk of introducing microorganisms to the patient, otherwise if the Enrolled Nurse failed to wash their hands the patient may scratch an itch on their wrist then rub their eyes thus in the process transferring any organisms to their mucosal surfaces which may cause further infection (Koutoukidis et al, 2013, p 371). Once the Enrolled Nurse has taken the patient’s pulse the Enrolled Nurse washes their hand once again (Moment 3 &4). This is due to the possibility of the Enrolled Nurse picking up organisms from the patient through direct contact, this then places the Enrolled Nurse at risk of contaminating themselves if they were to rub their eyes or touch their nose and mouth (Koutoukidis et al, 2013, p 371). Due to the amount of visitor’s the patient may receive for medical staff and visitors that will touch many objects in the patient’s room the Enrolled Nurse will also wash their hands (moment 5) after touching the patient’s chart. This is to protect the Enrolled Nurse from any organisms that may reside on the surface and to reduce infecting themselves or passing on the organism to another surface in another patient’s room (Koutoukidis et al, 2013, p 371). As shown in the five moments of hand washing, if a Enrolled Nurse failed to apply the five moments of hand washing
The most common signage for hand hygiene is the utilisation of the five moments for hand hygiene. This includes :-
The 5 Moments for Hand Hygiene
Moment 1: Hand hygiene must be performed before touching a client
Moment 2: Hand hygiene must be performed immediately before a procedure
Moment 3: Hand hygiene must be performed following a procedure or potential body fluid exposure
Moment 4: Hand hygiene must be performed after touching a client
Moment 5: Hand hygiene must be performed after touching the client’s environment, without touching the …show more content…
By the Enrolled Nurse washing their hands effectively this reduces the risk of introducing microorganisms to the patient, otherwise if the Enrolled Nurse failed to wash their hands the patient may scratch an itch on their wrist then rub their eyes thus in the process transferring any organisms to their mucosal surfaces which may cause further infection (Koutoukidis et al, 2013, p 371). Once the Enrolled Nurse has taken the patient’s pulse the Enrolled Nurse washes their hand once again (Moment 3 &4). This is due to the possibility of the Enrolled Nurse picking up organisms from the patient through direct contact, this then places the Enrolled Nurse at risk of contaminating themselves if they were to rub their eyes or touch their nose and mouth (Koutoukidis et al, 2013, p 371). Due to the amount of visitor’s the patient may receive for medical staff and visitors that will touch many objects in the patient’s room the Enrolled Nurse will also wash their hands (moment 5) after touching the patient’s chart. This is to protect the Enrolled Nurse from any organisms that may reside on the surface and to reduce infecting themselves or passing on the organism to another surface in another patient’s room (Koutoukidis et al, 2013, p 371). As shown in the five moments of hand washing, if a Enrolled Nurse failed to apply the five moments of hand washing