Infection Prevention and Control

At North Wellington Health Care we are committed to protecting the health and safety of our patients, visitors, volunteers and staff. Patients who are sick are not able to fight off infections as easily as healthy people. If you are feeling unwell, have a cough or diarrhea, please postpone your visit until your symptoms have gone and you are better.

Nosocomial or Hospital-Acquired Infections

Statistics show that about 5-7 per cent of patients admitted to hospitals develop a preventable hospital-acquired infection such as C. Difficile, MRSA and VRE. These hospital-acquired infections are called nosocomial infections. It is important to monitor for these types of infections because we do not want them to spread between patients or from patient to visitor. Older patients, those with weak immune systems and patients who have been in hospital for a long time are highly vulnerable to these infections.

Infections are often transmitted through touch and we all play an important role in ensuring we keep ourselves and our loved ones healthy.

If you're visiting a hospital, follow these important tips:

• If you're visiting a patient or getting treatment, remember to clean your hands when you enter and leave the hospital and before eating. Soap and water or an alcohol-based hand rub should be used.
• If you're visiting a patient who has special isolation instructions posted by the door of his/her patient room, be sure to follow the instructions completely and all the time. Please speak to the nursing staff if you have questions regarding the appropriate precautions to take. These may include wearing a gown and gloves while you're in the patient's room, not using the patient's bathroom, and washing your hands before and after putting on gloves.
• Patients - Ask your doctor, nurse, other health care professional and all visitors to clean their hands before touching you. It's your right as a patient, so speak up.
• Don’t sit on the bed or floors.

Education

Hand Washing
Are you washing your hands properly? Follow these simple steps to ensure a clean result!

• Use warm running water and soap.
• Rub hands together briskly for 15 seconds (about the time it takes to sing Happy Birthday)
• Rinse hands thoroughly and dry with a clean paper towel.
• Use paper towel to turn off the tap.

Use these tips at home too!
Make sure you wash your hands:

• Before and after visiting a patient.
• After coughing or blowing your nose.
• After using the washroom.
• Before eating.

Waterless alcohol-based hand rub dispensers can be found throughout the hospital.

When decontaminating hands with an alcohol-based handrub use an amount of alcohol-based handrub sufficient to cover all surfaces of hands.

1. Apply handrub to palm of one hand.
2. Rub hands together covering all surfaces of hands and fingers.
3. Rub until handrub is absorbed.