Infections
What is the single, most important step to prevent infection and the transmission of pathogens in healthcare settings?
What is... Completing hand hygiene
A UAP is checking a blood glucose, what are the minimum number of common identifiers used for providing care, treatment or services and what are they?
What is Two. Name and Date of Birth.
How many "Rights" of medication administration are there?
What is Five - Right patient, right drug, right dose, right route and right time.
Will accept what is Six - if including "Right Response".
Who can respond to a bed, chair or belt alarm?
What is ... Everyone!
The standard amount of time that should be spent when washing hands with soap and water to ensure disinfection.
What is ... 20 seconds.
Remember the tip of singing "Happy Birthday to You" twice!
You notice a patient walking the halls alone wearing a yellow wrist band, what should you do?
What is... Stay with the patient for safety and/or help them return to their unit/room and locate and notify the appropriate care team member.
Yellow Wristbands are an indication of "High Falls Risk"
A patient requires sliding scale insulin at mealtime, the patient's insulin pen is not scanning, and they would like to start eating. What is the best course of action to take?
What is... Do not proceed with giving any medication without scanning prior to administration. Contact Pharmacy and obtain a new pen or other labeled medication for safety.
We screen everyone over the age of 11 for risk of suicide.
What is ... Correct. As a rule, we will screen everyone 11 and up across the board, regardless of reason for admission. We may screen at an earlier age if warranted.
What are two things we can educate patients on that they can do to impact infection control?
What is... handwashing/hand hygiene and respiratory hygiene (using their IS -Incentive Spirometry)?
Certain medications put patients at higher risk for injuries and require closer patient monitoring. What are two drug classes that are considered "High Risk"?
What are narcotics, anticoagulants.
What two things must you do when verifying verbal orders and results received by telephone or in-person?
What is... Write Down and Read Back
How can we improve the quality and safety of care for our hospitalized patients.
What is ... implementing and improving Healthcare Equity?
In what situations would soap and water need to be used instead of alcohol-based hand sanitizer? Name three...
What is... when hands are visibly soiled, dirty or sticky
When caring for patients in Enteric Precautions (e.g. Norovirus, Clostridium Difficile, Cryptosporidiosis etc.)
After using the restroom
Before eating
When caring for patients prior to a procedure we use a "Universal Protocol" to prevent injuries. Within that Universal Protocol, what are two steps that should always be completed to prevent any surgical errors?
What is... Mark the procedure site.
And calling a "Time Out".
The process of comparing a patient's medication orders to all of the medications that the patient has been taking is called...
What is ... Medication Reconciliation
Who can silence a pump alarm?
What is.... The Registered Nurse.
Healthcare Associated Infections (HAI's) continue to be a problem in hospitals. Name at least TWO infections that we need to be increasingly vigilant about.
What is...
CAUTI- Catheter Acquired Urinary Tract Infection.
CLABSI- Central Line Associated Blood Stream Infection.
C-Diff- Clostridium Difficile.
SSI- Surgical Site Infections.
MDRO- Multidrug Resistant Organisms (e.g. methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus sp. (VRE), extended-spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBL), carbapenem-resistant organisms (CRO), carbapenemase-producing, carbapenem-resistant organisms (CP-CRO), and Candida auris.
Patients can be infected or colonized.
It is vitally important for patients to ALWAYS have their wristband(s) on at all times, name at least one reason why...
What is...
Code Status - on ID band - If NO status listed assume FULL code status
Allergy - RED Band
Patient identifiers - Name, DOB, MRN#
Barcode scanning for: Medication, Labs, Glucose testing.
Falls Risk - Yellow Wristband
Restricted Extremity - Pink Wristband to restricted limb (i.e. shunts, paralysis). If both arms are restricted, seek order from MD for appropriate methods for blood draw, vitals - B/P etc.
The nurse or result receiving staff member has how long to notify the patient's licensed provider regarding a critical lab or test result?
What is... 30 minutes.
Critical results should never be left on a voicemail or in a text page and communication should always be closed loop with documentation of the person accepting the results and the time.
Health can be impacted by many things. To promote Health Equity, we need to be aware of the Social Determinants of Health (SDoH) that might impact our patients. Name 3 of the 6 SDoH factors affecting Health Equity...
What is...
Social and Community Context - Cultural/Language Barriers, Insurance, Transportation, Childcare access etc.
Healthcare Access and Use- Preventative vs. Emergent care, use of primary providers
Neighborhood and Physical Environment- Housing and living conditions, environmental contamination.
Workplace and Occupational Conditions- Injury risk, exposures, etc.
Education- Educational opportunities, Health literacy, etc.
Income and Wealth Gaps - SES, Generational wealth, real estate etc.