Practice Briefs

Practice Briefs are evidence-based answers to the questions that were commonly asked by health care workers during our onsite visits. Click on the categories below to find the questions and then click on the questions to download the practice briefs for those questions.

Audits

Why is it important to perform audits at my facility, and how do I go about documenting my audits?

Construction

What is an Infection Control Risk Assessment for Construction?

Disinfection/ Sterilization

What is the recommendation for cleaning the brushes used when cleaning equipment in the sterile processing department, or when high level disinfecting equipment?

What is the recommendation for alcohol purge and forced air drying after endoscope reprocessing?

What factors should be considered when developing a protocol or policy for cleaning and disinfection of blood glucose meters used on multiple patients?

Is it sufficient to clean shared nail clippers with alcohol?

What are the requirements for storing sterile items?

Should gait belts be assigned per aide/therapist, and used on several residents, or should they be dedicated to one resident, and only used for that resident?

Are there specific resources for reprocessing of flexible endoscopes?

Ebola Screening

Should my facility still screen patients for Ebola?

Environment

What should NOT be stored under sinks?

Where can I find a list of the cleaning/disinfecting products effective for killing bacteria and viruses?

Is it true that when a facility has patients/residents with Clostridium difficile or Norovirus, a special type of disinfectant is required after cleaning?

Foley Catheters

Washing UC leg bags

Hand Hygiene

Is it safe to have alcohol hand sanitizer dispensers around confused adults?

Practice Briefs – Myth vs Fact regarding use of ABHR (Alcohol Based Hand Rub)

Are sinks used for equipment decontamination or urine specimen disposal acceptable to wash hands in as well?

What is a “splash zone” and what is the guidance associated with it?

Are there sinks where you should not wash your hands?

Hemodialysis

How should our dialysis center handle patients who are colonized or infected with resistant organisms?

Should our dialysis facility be using a common saline bag to draw up our flushes?

Our Dialysis facility does not routinely apply antibiotic ointment or povidone iodine ointment to vascular catheter exit sites. Should we?

Do I need to wear gloves when touching the dialysis machine during treatment?

Can we begin cleaning the dialysis station while the patient is still in the chair, but is finished with his session?

Should audits of practice be done in the dialysis setting?

Injection Safety

Should I verify the competency of the healthcare workers who are performing assisted blood glucose monitoring?

What factors should be considered when developing a protocol or policy for cleaning and disinfection of blood glucose meters used on multiple patients?

Linen

I have been cited for having linen stored inappropriately. What is the recommendation for storing linen?

Medication Preparation

What is a “splash zone” and what is the guidance associated with it?

Patient Screening

Should my facility still screen patients for Ebola?

Personal Protective Equipment

Why is it important to have Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) at or near patient/resident rooms?

Policy Review

How do I go about reviewing infection control policies and bringing them up to date?

Refrigerators

Can I store vaccines in the door of our medication refrigerator?

What type of thermometer should I use when monitoring our facility medication refrigerator temperatures? What do I document, and how often?

Risk Assessment

Is an Infection Control Risk Assessment necessary for Long-term Care Facilities?

TB - Tuberculosis

I have heard that I should have a TB Prevention and Control Plan at my facility. What comprises a TB Prevention and Control Plan?

When and how do I perform a Tuberculosis Risk Assessment for my long-term care facility?

Ultrasound Gel

Is it okay to use a bulk container and “top off” ultrasound transmission gel containers?

If you are unable to find a resource on our website, please feel free to contact us by emailing machaney@nebraskamed.com. We will try to help you in finding that resource and if possible make it available on our website for others.

Page last reviewed: September 8, 2020