Healthcare facilities are always having to brace for the spread of infection and illness in their waiting rooms and operating rooms. But with the new threat of the novel coronavirus moving from state to state, taking more precautions in keeping everyone as safe and healthy as possible should see more of a focused effort. No matter the virus or illness, healthcare facilities should review their standards for keeping healthcare risk management and flu prevention a priority and keep their employees and patients safe.
Flu Prevention in Healthcare Workers
Workers in the healthcare industry are typically the first and last points of contact against these infections. By practicing good hygiene, such as hand washing and keeping hands away from their faces, healthcare workers can limit their risk of healthcare-associated infections significantly as well as the risk of patients and visitors they come into contact with.
Flu prevention can be tedious, but the steps are simple to prevent infection. Washing hands, using sterile gloves and masks, and keeping equipment sanitized can be combined to help prevent all types of infection or illness, whether it’s transmitted through touch, air or droplets, like what we’ve been seeing with the Coronavirus.
Care Rooms
Infection prevention works in care rooms by keeping patients with the potential to infect others isolated. This minimizes the risk of transmission by any common executions, like coughing or touching. For airborne diseases, for example, patients should be placed in quarantined rooms with monitored negative airflow pressure to make sure that airborne organisms are not able to cause infection to the rest of the healthcare facility.
Facilities
For healthcare facilities as a whole, in order to cut down on infections and increase flu prevention, efforts must be taken beyond patient care rooms and go throughout an entire facility. From management to food service, sanitation and proper ventilation should be made into priorities. Hospitals should maintain clean air filters to cut down on the risk of airborne microorganisms.
Infection prevention in all healthcare facilities should be an important part of protocol to keep patients, employee and visitors safe. By implementing and sticking to prevention practices, healthcare workers and those around them will see a reduction in HAI’s.
Here are some basic precautions that all workers in a healthcare facility can take in order to achieve this, according to OSHA:
- Get vaccinated for the flu. Vaccination is still an important way to prevent the spread of the flu.
- Stay at home if you’re sick. If possible, the CDC recommends that workers who have a fever or have respiratory issues stay at home until at least 24 hours after their fever ends.
- Keep frequently touched items, such as phones, computer equipment, and door handles clean and always have hand sanitizer nearby.
- For those in a high-risk category for flu issues, such as pregnant women or those with asthma, make sure to speak with employers about alternative work duties.
About Connected Risk Solutions
At Connected Risk Solutions, we use our expertise and experience to provide insurance information and programs to those who serve long-term care and senior living facilities. Since 2007, we’ve been offering insurance and risk management plans designed to help our agents give their clients the ability to achieve continued growth while simultaneously protecting against loss, containing costs and increasing profitability. To learn more, contact us at (877) 890-9301.
