A risk can be defined as a high or low chance that someone could be harmed and how serious that harm can be. The development of risk management strategies is essential for the prevention of both hepatitis B and hepatitis C in the healthcare setting. The risk management process involves the identification of the risk, the analysis of the risk, the elimination or reduction of the risk, the ongoing evaluation of the risk management and efficient occurrence management of the accidents or infections that take place (Prevention).
Also, it is vital to enforce the education of healthcare workers of the standard precautions who may be exposed to blood or body fluids which are potentially contaminated with blood borne pathogens, such as hepatitis viral infections (Leonard). These standard precautions outline that all body fluids, blood, non-intact skin and mucous membranes must be treated on the presumption that they contain probable infectious transmissible pathogens.
In terms of the risk assessment of BBV’s transmission in our healthcare setting, this requires information derived from different sources. These sources include prevalence studies among occupational staff and patients, surveillance data from the surveillance scientist and team members and also the studies of frequency of blood contacts. In this study (risk and management), the standard universal precautions to protect healthcare workers and patients from infection with blood borne pathogens which were developed in 1987 by the centre for disease control and prevention (CDC) were reviewed in cases of exposure to healthcare workers and patients. In this review the...
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(3. Conclusion
In conclusion, it is evident from the literature cited that there are many risks associated with the transmission of blood borne viruses in the healthcare setting. On a positive note, it is clear that the majority of these risks can be reduced or even avoided in some cases. The majority of needlestick injuries in healthcare workers can be avoided by simply wearing appropriate personal protective clothing such as gloves and gowns to avoid splashes of blood or body fluids contaminated with blood. The correct waste segregation and disposal of needles and sharps will reduce the risk of transmission of BBV’s to waste handlers. Evidently, the hepatitis B vaccine is very successful and is implemented in all hospitals for healthcare workers who perform exposure prone procedures and are at a high risk of transmitting the infectious viral agent.
It is imperative that Health Care Professionals learn to manage risk. There are many factors to think about including environment, assessment, identification and prioritising when managing risk. Being able to strategically implement preventative measures will help in managing risk. Risk management works hand in hand with all enablers set out by chapelhow.
Following the proper guidelines for reducing the risk of transmission of TSEs in a clinical setting, the risk has been greatly reduced. As mentioned before no iatrogenic transmission from a medical instrument has been recorded since 1976 since following the standard guidelines. In an experiment by Amin et al., they examined the risk of transmission of vCJD via contact tonometry. They outlined that transmission could be further reduced by using larger volumes of washes for extended periods of time and also adding wiping between washes (16). This could help in the future to completely eradicate TSE transmission completely by increasing sterilisation methods. Proper training on all aspects of transmission of TSEs through medical equipment and proper sterilisation methods should be updated just to keep staff up to date to prevent the risks of TSEs transmission.
When working practitioners must not only protect the children they work with when in the school setting and off site, but also themselves. Whether in school or off-site the school safeguarding policy should be referred to, to give guidance and adhered to at all times.
Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) is a double-stranded DNA virus in the Hepadnaviridae family. The infectious particle is 42nm in diameter, with a genome 3200 nucleotides long. It has an outer envelope and an icosahedral nucleocapsid, which contains viral DNA polymerase and has a diameter of 27nm. The envelope contains the HBV surface antigen (HBsAg); this is the molecule to which anti-HBV antibodies are directed. The non-infectious hepatitis B particles are composed of HBsAg only and come in the form of filaments and spheres. Their only likely purpose is binding up antibodies so the infectious particles can remain free. In humans HBV infects hepatocytes where it replicates within the nucleus, but can also be found in smooth muscle, bone marrow, kidneys, thyroid glands and other sites.
Hepatitis is inflammation of the liver. There are currently five known viruses that cause can hepatitis (Microbiology, 10e). The hepatitis C virus (HCV) is transmitted through contact with the blood of an infected person; however, it is now more commonly spread among IV drug users that share needles. Healthcare workers are also at risk for contracting HCV, but with standard precautions, the risk is low. “Prior to 1992, some people acquired the HCV infection from transfusions of blood or blood products. Since 1992, all blood products have been screened for HCV, and cases of HCV due to blood transfusion now are extremely rare. HCV can be passed from mother to unborn child. Approximately 4 out of every 100 infants born to HCV-positive mothers become infected with the virus. A small number of cases are transmitted through sexual intercourse; however, the risk of transmission of HCV from an infected individual to a non-infected spouse or sexual partner without the use of condoms over a lifetime has been estimated to be between 1% and 4%. There have also been some outbreaks of HCV when instruments exposed to blood have been re-used without appropriate disinfection.” (Microbiology, 10e)
The risk of this Public Health dilemma is that if M.R.S.A. is becoming even more dominant in hospitals what is preventing this epidemic from expanding to an even more dangerous ...
The Strategic Prevention Framework or “SPF” is a guiding process one should follow when creating and delivering prevention programs and activities. This process is broken down into 5 steps and follows the principals of sustainability and cultural competence. This ensures the needs of the community are being identified and addressed, which results in effective prevention programs with favorable results. These 5 steps are: Assess Needs, Build Capacity, Plan, Implement, and Evaluation. Each step has an important component that supports the planning and delivering of these programs.
Hepatitis B, an infectious disease caused by the Hepatitis B virus (HBV, a DNA virus), was formerly called serum hepatitis, inoculation hepatitis and post-transfusion hepatitis. Infection with HBV may result in acute, fulminant or chronic hepatitis, sometimes even resulting in a chronic asymptomatic carrier state, apart from hepatocellular carcinoma and liver cirrhosis (Davis 179). The disease is transmitted when an individual comes in contact with infected blood or objects. It may also be transferred from an infected mother to her infant either during or after birth (Zuckerman et al. 211). Transmission may also occur by accidental inoculation from infected needles and hospital equipment, intravenous drug abuse, body piercing, tattooing, and mouth-mouth kissing (Zuckerman et al. 210). The risk of Hepatitis B is particularly high in individuals with multiple sex partners, and in homosexuals. The HBV virus occurs in morphologically different forms in the serum of infected individuals. HBV infection has an incubation period of about 75 days. Systemic symptoms of the disease include fatigue, fever, dyspepsia, arthralgia, malaise, and rash, while local symptoms include hepatomegaly, jaundice, dark urine, and pale stools (Davis 179; Zuckerman et al. 210).
Due to their direct contact with patients, personnel of health care teams are exposed to a higher risk of contracting diseases. Specifically, this risk becomes more potential for dental professional teams if we know that most of the human microbial pathogens are isolated from oral secretions. They can cause serious diseases that might transmit from patients to the personnel, and vice versa (Bednarsh & Molinri, 2010). In 1970 and the early 1980s, result showed the tendency among dental professionals to have more certain infectious diseases than the general public due to their exposure to blood and saliva of their patients (Bednarsh & Molinri, 2010). Disease, such as hepatiti...
Needlestick injury is the piercing of the skin caused by a needle, which was in contact with blood or other body fluids, before the exposure. It is very important that appropriate precautions are taken to prevent needlestick injuries, to avoid any untreatable blood-borne diseases. The common blood-borne diseases that have infected healthcare workers are Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, or Viral Hemorrhagic Fevers. During the inspection, nurses who were assigned to draw blood were seen handling the needlestick carelessly, leaving our organization concerned about their safety. This organization’s goal is to provide equipment and support for all countries, especially developing countries with any healthcare issues. Staff in hospitals should view needlestick injuries as a serious concern towards their employees and should tak...
(2014) shed light on two key components for infection control, which includes protecting patients from acquiring infections and protecting health care workers from becoming infected (Curchoe et al., 2014). The techniques that are used to protect patients also provide protection for nurses and other health care workers alike. In order to prevent the spread of infections, it is important for health care workers to be meticulous and attentive when providing care to already vulnerable patients (Curchoe et al., 2014). If a health care worker is aware they may contaminate the surroundings of a patient, they must properly clean, disinfect, and sterilize any contaminated objects in order to reduce or eliminate microorganisms (Curchoe et al., 2014). It is also ideal to change gloves after contact with contaminated secretions and before leaving a patient’s room (Curchoe, 2014). Research suggests that due to standard precaution, gloves must be worn as a single-use item for each invasive procedure, contact with sterile sites, and non-intact skin or mucous membranes (Curchoe et al., 2014). Hence, it is critical that health care workers change gloves during any activity that has been assessed as carrying a risk of exposure to body substances, secretions, excretions, and blood (Curchoe et al.,
Prevention of this virus would have been simple. There is a vaccine for Hepatitis B,however it wasn't used routinely until the 1980's , so many of these elderly may not have received it. In addition to this, there are ways to avoid transmission of Hepatitis B in this fashion (assisted monitoring of blood glucose). The personnel could have simply followed the rules and regulations set forth by the CDC for preventing transmission of blood-born pathogens. Outbreaks like this are less likely to occur in places like nursing homes because they are subject to federal regulations where these assisted living facilities are not. Federal regulation may help to prevent outbreaks like this also. Proper training of personnel in the area of blood-born pathogen transmission should be a requirement.
Public safety covers a wide variety of people and organizations, but carries one common theme and that is, the public’s safety. This course has broadened my knowledge on the many roles that make the public safety sector go around and the role the public plays in it as well. My thoughts before the course were close minded and to the point. I quickly realized that policing is not as cut and dry as I once portrayed it to be. Society is always changing and adapting, and it is the job of the those in public safety to adapt and change with it. The mindset that I grew up with, in rural Saskatchewan, was the police are good people and you will only need to deal with them if you break the law or see someone break the law. My answers in the module 1 survey reflected my upbringing. My first thought for
It’s true what everyone talks about safety – you are the key to your safety, when you do it safely you do it the right way and the best gift you can give to your family is to always stay safe. We have been taught by our parents and teachers to be cautious while doing a number of things. That’s very essential in our daily lives, because one needs to be extra cautious to prevent unavoidable accidents. However, mishaps do happen everywhere in the safest of places, no matter how careful we are in our actions. It is highly unpredictable, what’s going to happen the very next instant. There are numerous incidences we come across like simple trips, falls, cuts due to sharp objects, burns or sudden worsening of a person’s health condition, causing
Risk Management allows us to identify the problems which are unknown during the start of the project but may occurs later. Implementing an efficient risk management plan will ensure the better outcome of the project in terms of cost and time.