Tech in Surgery Prep / Unit 2 TSC 041 worked example, 60 to 90 seconds
Standard Precautions
The idea
Standard precautions are the minimum infection-prevention practices used for every patient, whether or not an infection is known.
In practice
They rest on one principle: treat all blood, body fluids except sweat, broken skin and mucous membranes as possibly infectious. Then apply the elements in order. First, hand hygiene. Second, personal protective equipment, such as gloves, gowns, masks and eye protection, whenever exposure may occur. Third, respiratory hygiene, such as covering coughs. Fourth, cleaning and disinfecting the environment and equipment. Fifth, safe handling of laundry and waste. Sixth, sharps safety, using engineering and work practice controls. Seventh, aseptic technique for invasive procedures. In surgery these apply to every case, because blood and body fluids are expected, not occasional.
Where people slip
Standard precautions are not a response to a diagnosis. A patient with no known infection gets exactly the same protection as one with a known infection, because carriers often have no symptoms.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
Builds on
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