Precautions
The various environments of health care facilities makes them likely settings for the spread of infections because these facilities bring together sick people who are both reservoirs and susceptible hosts. Health care workers are also both reservoirs and susceptible hosts. Because it is impossible to eliminate all reservoirs and susceptible hosts, it is extremely important to prevent the spread of infectious agents. This includes using standard precautions which are meant to reduce the risk of transmission of pathogens from both recognized and unrecognized sources, and transmission-based precautions when warranted in certain situations.
In this lesson we take a deep dive into the use and application of standard, as well as transmission-based precautions. Note that cleaning and disinfection environmental surfaces is a key component of standard precautons.