Understand health and safety in social care settings

[Laurenw1992]

Can someone please help me on the Infection Control handout, i'm stuck on point Civb: An explanation of the social care worker's role in supporting others to promote best practice in infection control.

Thanks!

[maind]

Hi Lauren!
You would support others in the following ways:

Asking visitors to use hand gel or asking them not to bring very young children; frail elderly people or those having treatment for cancer or with immune system problems in to visit - particularly when there is an outbreak of illness
You may be asked to stop visitors coming in to the setting and giving an explanation as to why.
You would be expected to encourage hand washing among patients or residents after using the toilet (often gets forgotten if the carer has cleaned the person up - but they will have been touching surfaces in the toilet so need to wash their hands too).
Encouraging residents to wash their hands before eating.
You might be expected to promote hand washing rather than just using alcohol gel when there is an outbreak of winter vomiting virus (Norovirus) or a person has Clostridium Difficile (C. Diff) as both organisms are resistant to gel and are not killed by it.
Reminding other staff to put their PPE on - for example, some staff do not bother put on an apron when emptying catheters - gloves are not enough - the uniform needs to be protected from splashes of urine.
Hands must be washed thoroughly after removing gloves.
New or junior staff may need more support until they get used to the setting's policies and procedures.
Through doing all these things (and more!), you are supporting your manager to run a safe, clean establishment where good practice is observed and problems highlighted before they become crises!