Volunteer - Oakwood Annapolis Hospital

To: All Patient Care Staff
From: Department of Infection Prevention and Control
Date: 08/30/2011
Re: Clostridium difficile on the rise
The following reminders are proven techniques to reduce the spread of C. diff. (Clostridium difficile (C. diff)
infections.)
Important Reminders:
� It is critical that all healthcare workers follow strict hand hygiene and isolation protocols.
We are all partners in patient safety – it is essential to take the time to educate patients, visitors, and even your
colleagues/fellow health care providers on the importance of hand hygiene.
o C. diff is spread by ingestion of bacteria and can infect healthy people. Patients and healthcare personnel are at
risk of C. diff disease, so it is important to be vigilant.
o Encourage patients to wash their hands or to use alcohol hand wipes before eating meals.
o Anyone touching the patient, equipment, or environment can spread C. diff
o If you see someone who has not washed their hands or used alcohol-based hand rub when they should have,
address the situation in a professional and courteous manner.
Examples include:
� “Have you remembered to wash your hands?”
� “I am requesting that you wash your hands for our patient‟s safety.”
� Wash your hands with soap and water immediately after removing gloves when caring for a suspected or confirmed C.
diff patient or touching the patient environment.
o If no clean sink is available in the room, use alcohol hand rub then wash with soap and water as soon as possible.
Do not touch equipment or the environment on the way to a clean sink – this causes C. diff spore contamination.
o Use a clean paper towel to turn off the faucet to keep your hands clean.
� Wear gloves and gown to enter the room every time.
o Personal protective equipment must be worn correctly for it to work.
� Gowns must be fastened in the back at the waist and neck to prevent contamination of clothing. A recent
Joint Commission survey resulted in a citation for healthcare workers not wearing gowns properly.
� Gloves must be pulled over the cuffs of the gown to prevent contamination of clothing and hands.
� Use the yellow, disposable stethoscopes for Contact Precautions patients.
o If you must use a non-disposable stethoscope it must be thoroughly disinfected with a bleach wipe upon
exiting the Contact Precautions room.
o The stethoscope must be rubbed with the bleach wipe to create friction and stay wet with bleach for a total of
5 minutes in order to kill the C. diff spores.
� Watch for C. diff symptoms in all patients
o Symptoms include more than three (3) episodes of diarrhea a day, abdominal pain, fever, and foul stool odor.
o Recent exposure to antibiotics is frequently a predictor of C. diff-associated diarrhea.
o If you suspect a patient has C. diff, start Contact Precautions immediately.
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