Case Studies, Chapter 24, Asepsis and Infection Control

1. You are a nurse caring for a 73-year-old farmer who was brought to your

emergency department via ambulance after she fell while caring for her

chickens. The external rotation of her left foot indicates the high likelihood that

she fractured her hip with the fall. As you prepare her for surgery, you note that

the health care provider has ordered the insertion of a urinary catheter.

(Learning Objectives 1, 3, and 4)

a. Outline measures you would take to prevent infectious agents from being

introduced during her catheter insertion.

- Use a sterile technique and if at any point during the procedure the

catherter becomes contaminated to discard of the catherter and start

the procedure over. I will clean the perineal area from front to back

before the start of the procedure.

b. List potential reservoirs for infection that could contaminate this

procedure.

- The vagina and the rectum are potential reservoirs as well as the

nurse’s cleaning procedures like her gloves or a sterile container.

c. How does correctly utilizing sterile technique impact the cycle of infection?

- It breaks the chain of infection by minimizing bacteria by simple hand

washing and washing from front to back.

d. Describe how violation of sterile technique could introduce pathogens in

this procedure.
 - Being exposed to bacteria can cause infection, cleaning the perineal in

the wrong way can cross contaminate with

e. Indicate the factors that would make your patient a susceptible host to

infection.

- Gender, age, immobility, occupation, and decreased metabolism are

factors that would make my patient susceptible to infection.

2. As a nurse in a family practice, you frequently see children as patients---many

times in sibling groups who all demonstrate the same symptoms. Parents of

your patients will call on the phone and request a prescription for antibiotics to

treat their child’s symptoms. (Learning Objectives 1 and 8)

a. Why is prescribing antibiotic therapy over the phone for reported

symptoms not the best practice?

- Pain does not necessarily mean an infection and we cannot base

antiobiotic therapy on just a phone call; labs and tests would have to

be obtained to label the bacteria and choose the appropriate

medication according to results.

b. How does your patient’s body typically resist infection?

- Natural barriers include the skin, mucous secretions, also urine is

sterile and washes out microorganisms from the tract as well as the

immune system and its white blood cells. A fever is also an indication

of fighting off a fever.

c. How do antibiotics affect viruses?

- They does not kill viruses, only bacteria.

d. Outline factors that contribute to an organism’s disease-causing potential.

- Not washing hands, certain enivorments, hygiene, nutrition, overall

wellness.

e. How might providing parents with education regarding standard

precautions impact the spread of infection within the family unit?

- They would wash hands more often, be more conscious of enviroments

and personal hygiene. It could prevent the spread not only in the

family unit but in school and work enviroments.