Pre-Operative Care: Infection Control, Falls Prevention and Nursing Care Interventions

This article discusses the importance of infection control and falls prevention in pre-operative care. It also covers nursing care interventions for comprehensive care. The article provides two key infection control principles, respiratory hygiene and hand washing, and their rationale for implementation. It also discusses the NSQHS standards for comprehensive care and two nursing care interventions, determining the risk of falling and the use of fall detection sensors.

Running head: PRE-OPERATIVE CARE
Bachelor of Nursing
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Table of Contents
Infection control.........................................................................................................................2
2 key infection control principles...........................................................................................2
Rationale for implementation.................................................................................................2
Preventing falls and injuries.......................................................................................................3
NSQHS standards for comprehensive care............................................................................3
2 Nursing care interventions..................................................................................................4

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Infection control
2 key infection control principles
Influenza is generally categorised as a community based infection, transmitted across
communities and households that makes most individuals seek ambulatory medical services.
Owing to the fact that influenza viruses get transmitted through droplet transmissions and
close contact between the source and recipient individuals, there is a need to implement
effective control strategies that will prevent spread of the virus from Ms. Smith to other
patients and healthcare workers. The two major infection control principles are cited below:
 Respiratory hygiene- This is a standard infection control technique that will prevent
dispersion of viral respiratory secretions into the air. This control technique will
involve making Ms. Smith cover her mouth and nose with disposable single-use
tissues, while sneezing, coughing, blowing nose or sneezing. The tissues will be
disposed in bins or waste receptacles (Zayas et al., 2013).
 Hand washing- All healthcare workers and patients will be made to adhere to
appropriate hand hygiene techniques with the use of soap, water and alcohol based
rubs that will prove effective in reducing presence of influenza virus on hands. This
will involve several steps such as, wetting hands in clean running water, taking some
amount of soap and rubbing the palms, back, finger interface, and thumb in a rotating
manner, followed by thorough rinsing and drying (Warren‐Gash, Fragaszy &
Hayward, 2013).
Rationale for implementation
Respiratory hygiene- These are effective infection prevention measures that are
designed to restrict the transmission of harmful respiratory pathogens that are usually spread
by airborne routes or through droplets. These etiquette or hygiene are generally employed as
control measures and have proved effective in preventing seasonal outbreaks of infections in
the viral respiratory tracts. Experimental evidence suggests covering the mouth and nose with
tissues help in preventing dispersal of respiratory droplets during sneezing or coughing
(Tacconelli et al., 2014). Research evidences also suggest that sneezing or coughing into the
upper arm or elbow, in absence of disposable tissues, are also effective in infection control
(Choi & Kim, 2016). This can be attributed to the fact that influenza viruses present in mucus
get directly transmitted when an infected person sneezes. These series of actions that must be

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followed while coughing or sneezing have also been proved effective in controlling infectious
respiratory droplets at their source.
Hand hygiene- This has been identified as one of the most important measure that
prevents transmission of harmful germs, thereby preventing nosocomial or health care-
associated infections. This can be attributed to the fact that hands are the primary pathways
that result in transmission of pathogens in healthcare settings. Furthermore, influenza virus
also gets transmitted through hands to the eyes, mouth or nose. According to research
evidences, any healthcare worker, or caregiver, involved in direct or indirect forms of patient
care need to remain concerned about hand hygiene practices (Wong, Cowling & Aiello,
2014). Cleaning hands with the use of soap and water, or alcohol based formulations have
been found effective and better tolerated among individuals. Hand hygiene techniques, in
combination with face mask have also shown statistically significant efficacies against spread
of laboratory-confirmed influenza virus (Wood et al., 2018). Furthermore, studies that
evaluated the effectiveness of personal protective measures in eliminating risks of influenza
transmission also suggested that hand hygiene provides significant protective effects against
pandemic influenza infections (Saunders-Hastings, Crispo, Sikora & Krewski, 2017). Thus, it
can be suggested that an adherence to effective hand hygiene recommendations will help in
reducing influenza risks among healthcare workers and other patients.
Preventing falls and injuries
NSQHS standards for comprehensive care
The primary objective of these standards are built on protecting all individuals from
harm and improving their quality of provision of healthcare services. The Comprehensive
Care Standard is impetrative in the context of patient falls since it encompasses the
coordinated delivery of healthcare services, as required by a patient. The importance of this
standard can be attributed to the fact that it makes it necessary for all healthcare organisations
to recognise the specific harms that the patients are subjected to, in addition to minimising the
associated risks with the implementation of appropriate strategies. Thus, the fact that the care
standard recognises the importance of screening and monitoring patients for falls and injuries,
make it necessary in this context. The standard also aims to ensure meeting the goals for each
patient. This is particularly useful in regards to falls since it would facilitate formulation of an
appropriate care plan based on the actions of Preventing Falls, thereby improving patient
health and wellbeing. Evidences have established the fact that a comprehensive fall

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evaluation should be conducted to reduce risks of falls in older adults (NSQHS Standards,
2018). Thus, this care standard will facilitate delivery of a coordinated healthcare service that
will work towards preventing falls, conducting gait assessment and managing risks of falling.
2 Nursing care interventions
 Determine the risk of falling- Fall risks assessments form an important part of
evidence-based fall safety initiatives. This assessment has been identified as an
essential component of evidence-based fall safety initiative. This can be attributed to
the fact that falls have devastating consequences on the older adults, in terms of their
mortality, morbidity, and loss of independence (Howcroft, Kofman & Lemaire, 2013).
Furthermore, a history of falls increases rates of hospitalisations in healthcare
facilities, thereby accounting for adverse incidents. A comprehensive fall risk
assessment will involve evaluation and treatment of Ms. Smith for falls. This
assessment will be part of her overall geriatric assessment. The primary benefit of this
intervention can be related to the fact that it will help in measuring her cognition,
balance, gait, and mobility (Rantz et al., 2013). Although time consuming, the
assessment will facilitate the identification of major intrinsic risk factors that might
increase her likelihood of suffering from falls and fall related injuries.
 Use of fall detection sensor- Automatic fall detection sensors will notify instances by
detecting between normal activity and actual falls. These will comprise of an assistive
device that will provide an alert when a fall has occurred. This is based on the
potential to mitigate the adverse consequences of falls. Fear of falling are often
associated with negative impacts such as, less physical activity, depression, social
withdrawal, and poor quality of life (Rantz et al., 2015). Use of a wristband fall
detector will focus on a movement sensor that will keep the patient under continuous
monitoring. Bed alarms will provide an early warning related to movement of the
patient from the bed, or wandering out for an exit. The alert will assist in quickly
reaching for the aid of the patient, before a fall related event occurs (Mubashir, Shao
& Seed, 2013). Thus, use of these detection sensors can be considered as essential
nursing interventions as they will facilitate identification of all instances that involve
an unplanned decent of the patient Ms.Smith to the floor.

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