Protecting skin and preventing infection are complex and multifaceted efforts. This toolkit highlights four key strategic areas to protect skin and prevent infection. The approach for tackling these strategies depends on your facility’s resources and healthcare personnel.
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The Four Key Strategies To Protect Skin and Prevent Infection: One-Pager (Word, 1 MB)
A one-page summary of the four key strategic areas to protect skin and prevent infection.
Protect Skin, Prevent Infection
This section provides an overview of how to protect skin and prevent infection in the long-term care setting.
- Implementation and Sustainability of Interventions To Improve Skincare and Prevent Multidrug-Resistant Organism (MDRO) Infections in Long-Term Care Facilities: Learn more about implementing and sustaining the AHRQ Safety Program for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) Prevention: Improving Skincare and MDRO Prevention in Long-Term Care.
- The 3 Cs of Healthcare: Working Together To Prevent Infection: Learn how communication, collaboration, and connection in healthcare are integral to improving resident safety and nursing home culture.
Teachable Moments To Protect Skin, Prevent Infection: Access Teachable Moments to assist with education to protect skin and prevent infection.
Supporting Materials To Protect Skin, Prevent Infection: Access supporting materials to assist with education to protect skin and prevent infection.
Keep Skin Clean and Safe
Aging skin provides additional challenges for infection prevention. Luckily, there are many evidence-based interventions to keep skin clean and safe that are included below. Skin reactions and conditions may vary in appearance depending on a person’s skin color. This toolkit uses pictures and diagrams depicting skin of a variety of colors/tones to give a broader view of how these conditions may manifest. However, all possibilities may not be represented.
- Aging Skin: The Importance of Care and Assessment: Learn more about aging skin and the importance of care and assessment, including assessing resident preferences and comfort levels prior to bathing, describing skin changes and places where medical devices enter patients’ skin, and explaining how to reach inaccessible body parts during bathing.
- Skin Under Pressure: Preventing Pressure Injury: Review what a pressure injury is, how to stage a pressure injury, and how preventing pressure injury can reduce skin and soft tissue infections.
- Keep the Bugs Out! Preventing Surgical Site Infections: Learn how evidence-based strategies can be a useful tool in preventing surgical site infections.
Teachable Moments To Keep Skin Clean and Safe: Access Teachable Moments and other facility resources to assist with education to keep skin clean and safe.
Supporting Materials to Keep Skin Clean and Safe: Access supporting materials to assist with education to keep skin clean and safe.
Reduce MDRO Transmission
Healthcare personnel can inadvertently get bacteria and pathogens on their hands, clothing, and medical equipment. This can happen when healthcare personnel interact with a resident or the resident care environment. This can lead to the spread of these pathogens to other residents, resulting in colonization or infection. This strategy, Reduce MDRO Transmission, is another way to keep staff, residents, and family safe in the healthcare environment.
- Enhanced-Barrier Precautions and MDRO Prevention in Long-Term Care: Explore an introduction to enhanced-barrier precautions, the difference between MDRO infection and colonization, and review why precautions are important for preventing infections and spread of MDROs.
- “This Is the Way We Wash Our Hands” Hand Hygiene: Review how and when to perform hand hygiene using alcohol-based hand rub or soap and water.
- Down and Dirty With Stool: Enteric Pathogens: Review how bacteria in the stool can be spread to others, cause infections in other parts of the body, and how to control the spread of gram-negative enterics.
- Caring for Residents With Central Lines: Preventing CLABSI: Review the role of proper central-line care and evidence-based best practices to prevent central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI).
- Go With the Flow: Preventing Urinary-Tract Infections: Learn the evidence-based best practices in preventing urinary tract infections.
Teachable Moments To Reduce MDRO Transmission: Access Teachable Moments to assist with education to reduce MDRO transmission.
Supporting Materials To Reduce MDRO Transmission: Access supporting materials to assist with education to reduce MDRO transmission.
Use Antibiotics Wisely
Antibiotics are important medications for treating infections. The more we use antibiotics, the more we create the selective pressure that can lead to increased prevalence of MDROs. Using antibiotics wisely means administering antibiotics only when necessary and using narrow-spectrum agents when possible.
- Choosing the Right Drug for the Bug: Antibiotic Stewardship for Skin and Soft Tissue Infection: Review what antibiotic stewardship is and how to empirically manage and diagnose skin and soft tissue infections.
Teachable Moments To Use Antibiotics Wisely: Access Teachable Moments to assist with education to use antibiotics wisely.
Supporting Materials To Use Antibiotics Wisely: Access supporting materials to assist with education to use antibiotics wisely.
Clean High-Touch Surfaces
High-touch surfaces, such as door handles and bedside tables, in long-term care facilities can harbor MDROs. Touching these surfaces can spread harmful pathogens among staff, residents, and the environment. Effective cleaning and disinfection of high-touch surfaces prevent pathogen transmission.
- Where Do Germs Live: Environmental Cleaning: Recognize the important role of environmental cleaning in preventing and controlling MDROs.
Teachable Moments To Clean High-Touch Surfaces: Access Teachable Moments to assist with education to clean high-touch surfaces.
Supporting Materials To Clean High-Touch Surfaces: Access supporting materials to assist with education to clean high-touch surfaces.
