1. STANDARD
PRECAUTION
By: Nitin Rohilla
B.Sc Nursing
Reg. No. 13754

2. DEFINITION
Standard Precautions
 Previously known by various names including “universal
precautions”
 Standard precautions are designed to reduce the risk of
transmission of bloodborne and other pathogens from
both recognized and unrecognized sources to a
susceptible host.
 They are the basic level of infection control precaution
 Hospital Infection is the result of a combination of
factors: Microbial source + Transmission + Susceptible
host = Infection

3. Standard precautions Transmission-based precautions
• Universal precautions
• Body substance isolation
•Airborne precautions
•Droplet precautions
•Contact precaution

4. Key Elements of Standard Precautions
1. Hand hygiene
2. Gloves
3. Mask, gogles, face masks
4. Gown
5. Prevention of needle stick & injuries from sharp instruments
6. Respiratory hygiene & cough etiquette
7. Environmental cleaning
8. Linens
9. Waste disposal
10. Patient care equipment WHO, 2007
PPE

5. Definitions of Hand hygiene
 Hand-washing
 Washing hands with plain soap and water
 Antiseptic hand-wash
 Washing hands with water and soap or other detergents
containing an antiseptic agent
 Alcohol-based hand-rub
 Rubbing hands with an alcohol-containing preparation
 Surgical hand hygiene/antisepsis
 Hand-washing or using an alcohol-based hand-rub before
operations by surgical personnel
Guideline for Hand Hygiene in Health-care Settings. MMWR 2002; vol. 51, no. RR-16.

6. “My five moments for hand hygiene”

9. PPE
PPE Working Condition
gloves should be used when touching blood, body fluids,
secretions, excretions, or contaminated items and
for touching mucous membranes and nonintact skin.
gowns should be used during procedures and patient care
activities when contact of clothing and/or exposed
skin with blood, body fluids, secretions, or excretions
is anticipated. Aprons are sometimes used as PPE
over scrubs, such as in hemodialysis centers when
inserting a needle into a fistula.
Mask and
goggles or a
face shield
should be used during patient care activities that are
likely to generate splashes and sprays of blood, body
fluids, secretions, or excretions.

10. Activities at risk of sharp injury
 Needle re-capping
 Body fluids aliquoting
 Open the tubes
 Throw the sharps not to sharp container
Discard if 2/3 full
• HBV : 27 – 37% ( 30%)
• HCV : 3 – 10 % (3,0 %)
• HIV : 0,2 – 0,4% (0,3%)

11. Transmission-Based Precautions
 Used in addition to Standard Precautions for
Specified Patients
 Designed for the Care of Specified Patients
known or suspected to be infected by
epidemiologically important pathogens spread
by: airborne, droplet, or contact transmission.

12. Droplet Transmission
 For infectious agents with droplet nuclei > 5 microns
 Examples:
 Pertussis
 Meningococcal meningitis
 Precaution Examples:
 Private room
 Mask if within 3’ of patient

13. Droplet Precautions
 Prevent infection by
large droplets from
 Sneezing
 Coughing
 Talking
 Examples
 Neisseria meningitidis
 Pertussis
 Influenza

14. Airborne Transmission
 For infectious agents with droplet nuclei < 5
microns
 Examples:
 Tuberculosis
 Measles
 Precaution Examples
 Isolation rooms under negative pressure
 N95 or HEPA respirator use

15. Airborne Precautions for Avian
Influenza
 Respiratory Protection
 N95 respirator
• Patient in isolation/cohorting
• Patient Transport
 Limit patient movement
and transport,
place a surgical mask
on the patient
 Airborne isolation room, if available
 Air exhaust to outside or
re-circulated with HEPA filtration

16. Linens
 Handle, transport, and process used linen in a manner which:
 Prevents skin and mucous membrane exposures and contamination of
clothing.
 Avoids transfer of pathogens to other patients and or the environment.

17. Waste disposal
 Ensure safe waste management.
 Treat waste contaminated with blood, body fluids, secretions and excretions as clinical
waste, in accordance with local regulations.
 Human tissues and laboratory waste that is directly associated with specimen
processing should also be treated as clinical waste.
 Discard single use items properly.

18. Patient care equipment
 Handle equipment soiled with blood, body fluids, secretions, and excretions
in a manner that prevents skin and mucous membrane exposures,
contamination of clothing, and transfer of pathogens to other patients or the
environment.
 Clean, disinfect, and reprocess reusable equipment appropriately before use
with another patient.

19. Contact Precautions
 For protection against skin-to-skin contact and physical
transfer of microorganisms to a host from a source
 Precaution Examples:
 Private room
 Handwashing
 Glove changes
 Examples
 Scabies
 VRE