AFFILIATE ORIENTATION MANUAL 19 patient’s room with precautions. For these instances, the hands should be washed with soap and water as outlined below. When washing hands with soap and water: • First wet hands with warm water, and apply the manufacturer’s recommended amount of product to the hands. • Vigorously rub hands together for at least 15 seconds, covering all surfaces of the hands and fingers. • Rinse hands with warm water and dry with a disposable towel. Turn off the faucet with a disposable towel. Avoid using hot water, because repeated exposure to hot water may increase the risk of dermatitis. Cone Health-approved lotions are recommended periodically after hand hygiene, throughout the shift. Only use system-approved lotion. Unapproved lotions may be incompatible with gloves and reduce their effectiveness. Glove Use Decontaminate hands prior to putting on gloves. Wear gloves when contact with blood or other potentially infectious materials, mucous membranes, and non-intact skin could occur. Change gloves during patient care if moving from a contaminated body site to a clean body site. Remove gloves after caring for a patient. Do not wear the same pair of gloves for the care of more than one patient, and do not wash gloves between uses with different patients. Remove gloves prior to leaving a patient’s room. Decontaminate hands after removing gloves. Visitors Affiliates are responsible for encouraging all visitors to perform hand hygiene before entering and upon exiting nursing units and patient care areas. Hand-Hygiene Product Dispensers • Do not add soap to a partially empty soap dispenser. This practice of “topping off” dispensers can lead to bacterial contamination of the soap. • Do not refill alcohol-rub dispensers. Discard the inside container when empty. Hand-Hygiene Compliance Monitoring Cone Health monitors and reports hand hygiene compliance for all health care personnel roles in clinical areas. Monitoring is conducted by trained observers through a formal process. Performance feedback is available to leadership system wide for accountability and process improvement. Medical Safety Devices Federal law requires a report on all incidents where there is reasonable suspicion that a medical device caused or contributed to a patient’s serious injury, serious illness or death. Incidents are reportable if they: • Require surgery or medical intervention. • Result in permanent impairment of a body function. • Permanently damage a body structure. If a person is injured by a medical device: • Take care of patient’s immediate need. • Remove device from use. • Label device – “Do Not Use” – with a date and time. • Alert supervisor, and work with supervisor to report in the Safety Zone Portal. Infection Control/Employee and Affiliate Health It is your responsibility to familiarize yourself with the Infection Control/Employee Health Policies located on Cone Connects. • In the event of an injury or a bloodborne pathogen exposure, either the charge nurse, assistant director, director, or administrative coordinator is notified immediately and a Visitor’s Incident Report is completed in the Safety Zone Portal on Cone Connects. • If medical treatment is required, follow the procedures for each campus. • Federal law now requires the use of sharps safety devices such as needle-less IV tubing, safety lancets and safety devices for IM and subcutaneous injections. • Individual containers of blood less than 20 ml or other waste such as dressings contaminated with blood or body fluids may be placed in the regular trash.