Infection Prevention Manual

EXPOSURE CONTROL PLAN Plan for infection emergencies. Our Agency is an important resource for the community during stressful and challenging health care events. Should there be an epidemic, pandemic or other major occurrence involving infectious agents, our Agency ability to deliver care with decreased services and expanded needs will depend in part on how well we planned for these events. Our Agency will care for patients during an emergency, for that reason our plan has addressed infection control issues such as: supplies, (we maintain a list of out of state suppliers) personnel, (we maintain our active employee list up to date) communication, utilities, patient place of service, (we maintain a prioritized emergency list) triaging, isolation and barrier precautions, and support services. We constantly review and use best practices for infection prevention and control throughout the entire Agency. Hand hygiene is critical to reducing HAIs. Although seemingly simple, achieving hand hygiene compliance is often difficult. We using a multimodal approach and understanding staff behavior, motivation and barriers. We monitor emerging issues like antibiotic-resistant bacteria and implement appropriate strategies by looking to scientific literature, evidence-based guidelines and IPC experts. We take into account new research, standards and evolving discussions from organizations and agencies such as the CDC, APIC, the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA), the Infectious Disease Society of America and the Accreditations Agencies. An effective infection prevention and control program plays a critical role in the safety, efficiency and overall success of any health care institution. Taking basic steps, our Agency ensure that appropriate infection prevention and control protocols are instituted and sustained and using best practices will benefit patients and staff.