When do nurses use sterile technique

It is the standard of care for surgical procedures, invasive wound management, and central line care. Sterile technique requires a combination of meticulous hand washing, creation of a sterile field, using long-lasting antimicrobial cleansing agents such as betadine, donning sterile gloves, and using sterile devices and instruments.

Aseptic non-touch technique ANTT is the most commonly used aseptic technique framework in the health care setting and is considered a global standard.

Aseptic non-touch technique starts with a few concepts that must be understood before it can be applied. A key part is any sterile part of equipment used during an aseptic procedure, such as needle hubs, syringe tips, needles, and dressings.

A key site is any nonintact skin, potential insertion site, or access site used for medical devices connected to the patients. Examples of key sites include open wounds and insertion sites for intravenous IV devices and urinary catheters.

When planning for any procedure, careful thought and preparation of many infection control factors must be considered beforehand. While keeping standard precautions in mind, identify anticipated key sites and key parts to the procedure. Consider the degree to which the environment must be managed to reduce the risk of infection, including the expected degree of contamination and hazardous exposure to the clinician.

Finally, review the expected equipment needed to perform the procedure and the level of key part or key site handling. See Table 4. Sterile dressing change Non-touch technique Non-touch is the primary goal, even when sterile gloves are used. Requires preparation and knowledge of planned procedure sequencing. Touching key sites and key parts is limited, purposeful, and only when needed. Handling key parts only at the time needed to assemble or use in procedure Handling syringes away from the hub Applying bandages by the edges away from key parts that will contact key sites Sequencing Order of procedure requires planning to be efficient, logical, and safe.

Practicing guidelines give direction as to optimal order from preparation to completion. Use of Gloves and Sterile Gloves There are two different levels of medical-grade gloves available to health care providers: clean exam gloves and sterile surgical gloves.

Generally speaking, clean gloves are used whenever there is a risk of contact with body fluids or contaminated surfaces or objects. This article has been double-blind peer reviewed This article is open access and can be freely distributed Scroll down to read the article or download a print-friendly PDF here if the PDF fails to fully download please try again using a different browser Read part 2 of this series here.

Box 1. Examples of when to use a medical aseptic technique Dressing a leg ulcer Dressing a surgical wound Inserting a peripheral cannula Redressing of vascular access devices Venepuncture Inserting a urinary catheter Administrating intravenous drugs Administrating of enteral feeds. Key points The term asepsis means the absence of potentially pathogenic micro-organisms Aseptic technique is used to achieve asepsis in order to prevent the transfer of potentially pathogenic micro-organisms to a susceptible site Medical asepsis aims to reduce the number of organisms and prevent their spread by use of standard principles of infection prevention An aseptic technique is required for many clinical interventions including wound dressing, peripheral cannula or other vascular access device insertion Prevention of infection can help to reduce the requirement for antimicrobial prescribing.

HM Government. Lloyd Jones M Fundamental care in practice: 2. Infection prevention and control. British Journal of Healthcare Assistants ; 8: 3, Loveday HP et al epic3: National evidence-based guidelines for preventing healthcare associated infections in NHS hospitals.

Journal of Hospital Infection ; S1-S National Institute for Health and Care Excellence Infection Control: Prevention of healthcare-associated infection in primary and community care Updated Royal College of Nursing Principles for Consent. Guidance for Nursing Staff. Wound, Ostomy and Continence Nurses Society Clean vs sterile dressing techniques for management of chronic wounds: a fact sheet. Related files. NT Contributor. Please remember that the submission of any material is governed by our Terms and Conditions and by submitting material you confirm your agreement to these Terms and Conditions.

Links may be included in your comments but HTML is not permitted. We use cookies to personalize and improve your experience on our site. Visit our Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy to learn more. You can opt out of some cookies by adjusting your browser settings. If there is any doubt about the sterility of an object, it is considered non-sterile. Known sterility must be maintained throughout any procedure. Sterile persons or sterile objects may only contact sterile areas; non-sterile persons or items contact only non-sterile areas.

The front of the sterile gown is sterile between the shoulders and the waist, and from the sleeves to two inches below the elbow.

Non-sterile items should not cross over the sterile field. For example, a non-sterile person should not reach over a sterile field.

When opening sterile equipment, follow best practice for adding supplies to a sterile field to avoid contamination.

Do not place non-sterile items in the sterile field. Movement around and in the sterile field must not compromise or contaminate the sterile field. Do not sneeze, cough, laugh, or talk over the sterile field.

When pouring sterile solutions, only the lip and inner cap of the pouring container is considered sterile. The pouring container must not touch any part of the sterile field.

Avoid splashes. When should a sterile field be opened under normal circumstances? What part of the sterile field is considered non-sterile? Previous: 1. Skip to content Chapter 1. Preventing surgical site contamination requires the efforts of all in involved in care of the patient to use their theoretical knowledge and experience in aseptic practices to provide patients with optimal care resulting in positive outcomes [ 7 ]. A cross-sectional study was carried out through the administration of a structured questionnaire to healthcare providers nurses of the Bamenda Regional Hospital.

The study took place at the surgical unit of the Bamenda Regional Hospital, Cameroon. Our study population were nurses working at the surgical unit. All 20 nurses who constantly came in contact with patients with septic wounds for dressing working at the surgical unit were given informed consent and after approval to participate in the study were administered questionnaires.

All 20 nurses who constantly came in contact with patients with septic wounds for dressing working at the surgical unit were included in the study. The instrument used for data collection was a well-structured questionnaire designed according to the objectives. The structured questionnaire had two major sections; demographics section and section that investigated the knowledge of the nurses on antiseptic techniques. Authorization was soughed from the delegate of public health of the North West Region and the director of the Bamenda Regional Hospital to conduct research in his institution.

Questionnaires that had initially been tested and validated were administered to the participants. The statistical package Epi Info 7 was used to enter data in this study.

SPSS version A descriptive analysis on the cases was done. A total of 20 nurses were used for the studies. Considering the level of experience of the nurses, it can be said that the nurses here are knowledgeable and have carried out many wound dressing procedures.