Personal Protective Equipment (PPE): Isolation Precautions (Nursing)

00:04 Now there's a lot of talk about respirator use.

00:07 This is coming more common in regards to airborne precautions such as tuberculosis or maybe COVID, for example.

00:14 Now the question is, can we reuse our N95 respirators? Now realistically, these are intended for single use.

00:24 But there's times that we have a shortage of N95 or PPE, they can actually be reused in times of shortage.

00:32 Now, reuse is only acceptable if the mask maintains its structural and functional integrity and the filter is not physically damaged or soiled.

00:42 As you can imagine, if any of these occurrences happen, we're not protected as a health care personnel.

00:49 Now let's take a look at this big yellow stop here and this big yellow sign.

00:54 This is something you're commonly going to see when a patient in a facility has a precaution of any kind.

01:01 So typically, these are color coded for us so it's really easy to identify that we need to stop and read the precautions that are here before us.

01:10 These are meant to protect the patient and you as a health care personnel.

01:14 So notice, it's important to take time and read these because these give you all the steps in the information to safely enter that room.

01:22 So of course, we start with cleaning our hands or a hand hygiene before we enter the patient's room and also don't forget before we exit the room.

01:31 Now providers and staff must also make sure we put on our gloves and our gowns before we enter the room.

01:39 Now we want to get rid of these because they're considered contaminated or soiled before we exit the room.

01:46 We also do not want to wear this same equipment we've already used for one patient for another, that's a big no no.

01:54 Now many times with contact precautions, because just like our gown and gloves, we don't want to take equipment in and out in and out we can cross contaminate here.

02:04 So we use dedicated disposable equipment or something that can be cleaned and disinfected before use on another person.

02:13 Now common contact precautions that you may see or for a patient that has MRSA, for example, or VRE or even C. diff.

02:23 Those are a lot of acronyms, but she'll get used to those, the more you're in the healthcare industry.

02:28 Now another one you may see is droplet precautions.

02:31 This is commonly in place for patients that maybe have the flu or RSV for example.

02:37 So of course, everyone must clean their hands before they enter and when they exit the room.

02:43 Now here's the key piece about droplet precautions, we've got to protect our mucous membranes.

02:49 We've got to make sure eyes, our nose and our mouth are fully covered before we enter the room.

02:56 Now we have some variations, we can use goggles or face shields and masks.

03:00 It depends what your facility has and your agency's policy.

03:05 We also want to make sure we remove the face protection before we exit the room.

03:11 Now let's look into another one called airborne precautions.

03:14 This is typically going to be in the case if your patient has tuberculosis, for example, or COVID.

03:21 So everyone must, of course, start with their hand hygiene, including before we enter and when we leave the realm.

03:28 Now this is where the respirator comes into play.

03:32 We've got to make sure we have a fit-tested, keyword fit-tested N95 a respirator or a higher level of respirator before we enter into the room.

03:43 And here's the other key piece.

03:45 We're going to remove that respirator after we exit the room and close that patient door and the door to this room must remain closed.

03:54 And again, if at all possible, these patients are going to be in special negative pressure rooms.