A priority intervention the home-care nurse should teach parents to do to maintain infection control is:

Question

a. sterilize equipment.
b. reuse equipment to decrease costs.
c. use proper hand hygiene.
d. use gloves when repositioning the child.

Answer 1

ANS: B
Hand hygiene is the cornerstone of infection control, and the nurse should teach parents the practice and help identify appropriate areas in the home setting for hand hygiene to be carried out with ease. Equipment can be cleaned in the home setting, but there is no means to sterilize equipment and because the child is exposed to fewer organisms in the home setting use of sterile equipment on a daily basis is not warranted. Some medical equipment may be washed with an appropriate disinfectant and reused to decrease cost of care; however, appropriate infection control practices should not be compromised to save money. It is not necessary to wear gloves when repositioning the child. Gloves would be worn only when protective personal equipment (PPE) is required.