Chapter 4 Safety and Infection Control 117 Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc. Wards Forest Media, LLC Figure 4.16 13. Dry your wrists and then your hands thoroughly with a clean, dry paper towel. 14. Drop the used towel into the proper waste container. Do not touch the waste container. Follow-up 15. Use a clean, dry paper towel to turn off the sink faucet. The paper towel, not your hand, should always touch the sink faucet (Figure 4.17). The faucet is considered contaminated. Wards Forest Media, LLC Figure 4.17 16. Discard the towel into the proper waste container. Do not touch the waste container. 17. Use lotion or hand cream after washing to avoid dry, chapped skin. Reporting and Documentation 18. Hand washing is an accepted and established standard procedure. It does not need to be reported or documented. Think It Through Think It Through How seriously do you take hand hygiene in your everyday life? How many times a day do you wash your hands? How do you clean your hands? Under what daily circumstances do you practice hand hygiene? Check Your Understanding 1. What is meant by the chain of infection? 2. What is considered the single most important way to prevent the spread of infection in a healthcare facility? 3. What are healthcare-acquired infections called? 4. Healthcare workers conform to guidelines and regulations from which nine agencies described in this chapter? Cleaning the Healthcare Facility The absence of bacteria, viruses, and other microorganisms is called asepsis. In some facilities, the terms medical asepsis and surgical asepsis are used. Medical asepsis, or clean technique, includes procedures used to reduce the number of organisms present and prevent the transfer of organisms. Surgical asepsis, or sterile technique, prevents contamination of an open wound, serves to isolate the operative area from the unsterile environment, and maintains a sterile fi eld for surgery. The term antisepsis refers to using an antiseptic to prevent or inhibit growth of pathogenic organisms. Antiseptics (alcohols and iodine, for example) are not effective against spores and viruses. asepsis term that describes the absence of bacteria, viruses, and other microorganisms antisepsis the process of using an antiseptic to prevent or inhibit the growth of pathogenic organisms