Wear Protective Eye Coverage When Possible
Published
It’s day 5 of the Don't Get Stuck challenge. Today's tip is to wear protective eye coverage when possible. “Splashes and splatters to the unprotected eye continue to be the highest risk exposure that there is in the nursing community,” says Amber Hogan Mitchell, DrPH, MPH, CPH, and the president and executive director of the International Safety Center.
Even if an infectious droplet settles near the eye area, nurses are at risk. Since the eye is rich with mucus and vessels, more than just bloodborne pathogens can be transmitted this way, including infectious diseases (e.g., flu, TB, etc.) and multidrug resistant organisms.
You should consider wearing eye protection whenever you are:
- Starting or discontinuing IVs
- Emptying catheters, bedpans, drains, or chest tubes
- Working with constant irrigations of any type
- In the operating room
- Drawing blood
- Working in obstetrics
Find this helpful? Use the social media links on this page to share it with a nurse you know. Join us on day 6.
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Challenge Tips
08/24/2018 10:45am CDT
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