Universal precautions
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Universal precautions refers to the practice, in medicine, of avoiding contact with patients' bodily fluids, by means of the wearing of nonporous articles such as medical gloves, goggles, and face shields.
Under universal precautions all patients are considered to be possible carriers of blood-borne pathogens. The guideline recommends wearing gloves when collecting or handling blood and body fluids contaminated with blood, wearing face shields when there is danger of blood splashing on mucous membranes and disposing of all needles and sharp objects in puncture-resistant containers.
Universal precautions are recommended for doctors, nurses, patients, and health care support workers who are required to come into contact with patients or bodily fluids. This includes staff and others who may not come into direct contact with patients.
Universal precautions should not be confused with Standard Precautions which goes beyond universal precautions. Pathogens fall into two broad categories, bloodborne (carried in the body fluids) and airborne.
Universal precautions should be practiced in any environment where workers are exposed to bodily fluids, such as:
- Blood
- Semen
- Vaginal secretions
- Synovial fluid
- Amniotic fluid
- Cerebrospinal fluid
- Pleural fluid
- Peritoneal fluid
- Pericardial fluid
Bodily fluids that do not require such precautions include:
Universal precautions are the infection control techniques that were recommended following the AIDS outbreak in the 1980s. Every patient is treated as if infected and therefore precautions are taken to minimize risk. Essentially, universal precautions are good hygiene habits, such as hand washing and the use of gloves and other barriers, correct sharps handling, and aseptic techniques.
Additional precautions are used in addition to universal precautions for patients who are known or suspected to have an infectious condition, and vary depending on the infection control needs of that patient. Additional precautions are not needed for blood-borne infections, unless there are complicating factors.
Conditions indicating additional precautions:
- Prion diseases (e.g., Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease)
- Diseases with air-borne transmission (e.g., tuberculosis)
- Diseases with droplet transmission (e.g., mumps, rubella, influenza, pertussis)
- Transmission by direct or indirect contact with dried skin (e.g., colonisation with MRSA) or contaminated surfaces
or any combination of the above.
Protective clothing includes but is not limited to:
[edit] See also
- Body substance isolation
- Recommendations for Prevention of HIV Transmission in Health-Care Settings — possible first use of the term "universal precautions".
- VHFs
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