120 Unit 1 Introduction to Healthcare Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc. Patient Isolation The purpose of isolation is to separate patients with certain infections from other patients to prevent the transmission of pathogenic microorgan- isms in hospitals. Reverse isolation, also called protective isolation, protects susceptible patients from contagious diseases by isolating them from oth- ers. Guidelines for patient isolation have been identifi ed by The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Hospital Infection Control Practice Advisory Committee (HICPAC). Healthcare facilities often have special isolation rooms. Signs are placed on the doors of these rooms to signal the type of isolation in place. Standard precautions are always used, with great attention paid to hand hygiene. Protective gloves, masks, and face shields serve as barriers against infec- tion. Various types of gowns are worn to prevent contamination of clothing and to protect the skin from blood and other body fl uids. Impermeable gown, leg, and shoe covers are available when greater protection is required. Special handling of patient supplies and equipment is important. Disposable dishes and other items are often used. Thorough cleaning and disinfection of the room and equipment is done regularly and upon patient discharge. Patients in isolation should be moved outside of the room as little as possible. When it is necessary for an isolated patient to be transported in the hospital and airborne or droplet precautions are in place, the patient should wear a mask. Caregivers must never forget that the patient in isolation is especially in need of compassionate care and understanding so that the patient does not feel unnecessarily shut off from the world. Healthcare facilities use a variety of isolation practices. Many facilities divide these practices into two levels of isolation precautions: standard pre- cautions and transmission-based precautions. Standard Precautions Standard precautions apply to all patients, regardless of their diagnosis. Standard precautions are a set of basic infection prevention practices intend- ed to prevent transmission of infectious diseases from one person to another. These precautions include guidelines for hand hygiene, personal protective equipment, respiratory hygiene, needlestick and sharps injury prevention, cleaning and disinfection, waste disposal, and safe injection practices. Because we do not always know if a patient has an infectious disease, standard precautions are applied to every person, every time to ensure that transmission of disease does not occur. These precautions were formerly known as universal precautions. These precautions apply to all body fl uids and any secretions or excretions (except perspiration), whether they contain visible blood or not. These also apply to non-intact skin and mucous membranes. Transmission-Based Precautions Transmission-based precautions are designed for patients with highly transmissible infections. Transmission-based precautions are used in addi- tion to standard precautions. Transmission-based precautions are divided into three categories—airborne precautions, droplet precautions, and con- tact precautions—based on how the infections are transmitted. isolation rooms rooms in a healthcare facility used to prevent the spread of infections, either by containing patients who have contagious diseases or by protecting immune- compromised patients from infectious diseases standard precautions a set of basic practices intended to prevent transmission of infectious diseases from one person to another