Key Takeaways

• Plan your care: each healthcare worker is responsible for performing a risk assessment before every contact with a client and the client’s environment to ensure the proper control measures are in place to prevent transmission of infections.

• Be aware of potential risk factors of clients that make them more susceptible to infections. Susceptible clients include very young children; clients who are elderly, nutritionally deficient, or chronically ill; clients undergoing medical treatments such as chemotherapy or taking medications such as high doses of steroids; and individuals who are already ill or have open wounds (Potter et al., 2019).

• Be aware of the chain of transmission and implement ways to break the chain in practice.

• The use of routine practices, effective hand hygiene techniques, additional precautions, and cleaning and disinfecting procedures contribute to enhancing client safety and eliminating significant healthcare risks.