Isolation precautions
To reduce the risk of spreading infections, everyone who goes to the hospital must follow certain routine practices, such as cleaning their hands. However, sometimes the spread of infection may not be completely stopped using routine practices. In these cases, additional measures called isolation precautions will need to be used. Isolation precautions are used to isolate or keep away germs that can cause harm to others. Different isolation precautions are used based on how specific germs are spread. If these isolation precautions are not followed, germs could spread to other people and may cause them to become ill. There are three main ways or routes that germs can spread in the hospital:
- by contact
- by droplet
- by airborne
Contact route
There are additional precautions that need to be taken to help prevent the spread of infections caused by germs spread by the contact route.
Contact transmission is a very common way that germs are spread. There are two types of contact transmission:
- Direct contact: This occurs through touching. For example, an infected person may spread germs to others by touching them.
- Indirect contact: This occurs when germs are spread by touching contaminated objects. For example, germs may spread if a piece of equipment is used by a patient and is then used by another patient without being cleaned and disinfected first.
Additional precautions
Additional precautions to prevent contact transmission include practices to prevent germs spread by touch. These practices include:
- Hospital staff wearing protective equipment such as gowns and gloves every time they enter your child’s room and when they take your child to a test or procedure off the unit. There may also be times when staff wear a mask. Your child’s nurse will tell you if you need to wear protective equipment as well.
- A Contact Precautions sign being placed on the outside of the door to your child’s room. This will let hospital staff know the type of protective equipment they need to wear to enter the room.
- Your child needing to stay in their room and not being able to come out of their room for as long as they are in Contact Precautions, except for tests and procedures that cannot be done in their room.
- A garbage can and linen hamper being placed at the door inside your child’s room. This will allow staff to remove their gowns and gloves before they leave the room.
- Some medical equipment staying in the room for your child’s use only.
- Parents and caregivers not having access to the kitchen and other public areas (such as the playroom) on the unit. Also not being allowed to visit other patients or families anywhere in the hospital.
- Any hospital toys that your child plays with staying in their room.
- Sometimes having your child’s room cleaned more than once per day.
What you can do
What you can do to help prevent the spread of germs:
- Clean your hands before and after you touch your child and always before you leave their room.
- Wear protective equipment if your child’s nurse asks you to.
- Do not come to the hospital if you are feeling unwell or think you are becoming ill.
- Tell your family and friends that your child is in Contact Precautions. Remind them not to come for a visit if they are feeling unwell. Try to limit the total number of people coming to visit your child.
- Do not take your child out of their room without permission from your child’s nurse. Try to stay in your child’s room as much as possible.
- Your child cannot play with other patients. Bring activities from home that your child would enjoy and ask a Child Life Specialist for other activities that your child can do in their room.
- If medical equipment needs to stay in your child’s room for your child’s use only, keep it inside of your child’s room until it is cleaned and disinfected by hospital staff.
- If your child plays with hospital toys, keep them in your child’s room until they are cleaned and disinfected by hospital staff.
- Keep your child’s room clear of clutter so that hospital staff can clean it better.