Now more than ever, you’ll want to ensure the safety of your patients, visitors, employees, and yourself, to limit the risk to infection, exposure, and germs. In healthcare environments, there are two different tiers of recommended precautions. These were established by the Center for Disease Control (CDC), to help prevent the spread of infections. The first tier refers to standard precautions used for all patient care, while the second involves transmission-based precautions.
Standard precautions apply to all patient care across the board, no matter the circumstance, and help to prevent the spread of infection between patients. Some of these safeguards include hand washing, gloves, gowns, face masks, and even safe injection practices. While these are fairly basic safeguards, they have proven time and time again to be invaluable for patient care. Not only do healthcare providers safely work with their current patients, but they also have to prepare for future patient care. This means that tools, equipment, and other services have to be sanitized and sterilized in anticipation of future usage. The all helps to facilitate appropriate decision-making (with anything beyond dependent on the assessed condition).
the CDC has established three main categories to distinguish specific ways in which germs are transmitted: airborne, contact, and droplet safeguards. These categories implement practices above and beyond standard precautions (i.e., hand washing, gloves, etc.), since for certain diseases, these minimum standards alone won’t suffice. Depending on the disease, there are multiple avenues of transmission, so it’s important to understand which precautions are applicable.
According to the CDC, airborne safeguards are implemented for anyone documented or suspected of infection with airborne-transmitted microorganisms droplet nuclei that remain suspended in the air within a patient’s room or greater medical space. These infections include measles, tuberculosis, and varicella. Though hand washing is a good basic health practice, these types of illnesses and infections require further steps to keep them at bay. Professionals will typically need a N95 face mask, instead of a simple surgical mask. In the case of airborne risk environment signs must consist of a blue background and include all precautionary rules. These blue airborne precaution signs should be located at doorways.
Alternatively, contact precautions, the second primary category, require different color coding and safeguards. This category seeks to reduce microorganisms spread by direct or indirect contact within an infected environment. These infections include Hepatitis A, Shigella, and gastrointestinal issues. In addition to the basic standards that are followed, a gown needs to be worn to prevent exposure to clothes or skin. Orange is the color code for illness transmitted through contact, and the orange contact precuation signage will list necessary Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to be worn.
Droplet precautions, which are in between the previous two category, are not airborne or involve direct external contact. Their pathogens pertain to the ones that are spread through close respiratory or mucous membrane contact with respiratory secretions. Droplet infections occur through large particles from a person’s coughing, sneezing, and talking. Types of contagions in this category include Influenza, Meningitis, and Mumps. Standard precautions and other PPE measures apply. When individuals are isolated, yellow is is the color code for infections passed by droplets; therefore, droplet precaution signs are in yellow.
In summary, it is important to follow standard, airborne, contact, and droplet precautions and combine them when needed, thus helping to prevent the transmission of germs and pathogens at your facility and protect vulnerable patients. By displaying the appropriate airborne, contact, or droplet precaution signage outside patient rooms, everyone entering will know which important protocols to follow.
Here at HealthcareSigns.com, we are more than eager to assist you in addressing your precaution and infection control signage needs. All our digitally printed signage is in compliance with both ADA and CDC guidelines, with the easy-installation velcro coins making them suitable for interior use within your healthcare facility. Each sign is also covered by our unrivaled guarantees, including Life of the Building and ADA Compliance. Have any other questions? Contact us at 877.714.6588 or emailus@healthcaresigns.com, and trust our sign experts at HealthcareSigns.com to help equip your healthcare facility today! It is important to remind everyone about best practices for airborne, contact, and droplet precautions, so order your precaution signs!
We also wanted to take a moment to thank all healthcare industry employees for your dedication, sacrifice, and commitment to your patients and residents during this unprecedented time. We are truly grateful for all that you are doing to protect the medically vulnerable.