The Infection Control Training for Assisted Living Facilities teaches healthcare providers essential infection prevention practices. They learn federal infection control requirements, proper hand hygiene techniques, and effective cleaning and disinfection procedures for rooms and equipment. By mastering these skills, providers reduce infection risks, protect residents, and ensure compliance with regulatory standards.
What You Will Learn:
- Infection control requirements set by federal agencies
- Proper hand hygiene techniques
- Proper procedures for cleaning and disinfecting rooms and equipment
Details:
Course length: 1 hour & 15 minutes; CME: 1.25
Languages: American English
Key features: Audio narration, learning activity, and post-assessment.
American Medical Compliance is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education to physicians. Our Continuing Medical Education (CME) program is committed to enhancing the knowledge, skills, and professional performance of healthcare providers to improve patient care outcomes. Through high-quality educational activities, we aim to address the identified educational gaps and to support the continuous professional development of our medical community. American Medical Compliance designates this activity for a maximum of 1.25 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits. Physicians should only claim this credit for their complete participation in this activity.
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Introduction to Infection Control in Assisted Living Facilities
The capacity of U.S. assisted living facilities (ALFs) stands at nearly one million beds.
Utilization of these facilities is expected to grow in response to an aging population and a shift in long-term custodial care from nursing homes to assisted living.
While a precise definition of ALFs is lacking, these institutions typically provide housing and care to persons unable to live independently and provide support for activities of daily living (e.g., toileting, dressing, cooking).
The typical ALF does not provide the level of care that is provided at a nursing home or acute care hospital. Nonetheless, a large volume of healthcare is routinely delivered at ALFs, using a variety of approaches including contracts with home health agencies and facility-based personnel such as medication aides, nurses, and others.
This course teaches healthcare providers the importance of infection control in assisted living facilities (ALFs) as demand grows. Providers learn how ALFs support residents needing daily assistance while delivering healthcare through staff and home health agencies. Though ALFs offer less intensive care than nursing homes or hospitals, infection control is crucial. By applying proper hygiene, disinfection, and regulatory standards, providers can protect residents, prevent outbreaks, and maintain a safe environment.
Understanding Pathogens and Disease Transmission
Although we can easily understand why infectious microorganisms would evolve to reproduce in a host, it is less clear why they would evolve to cause disease.
One explanation may be that the pathological responses elicited by microorganisms enhance the efficiency of their spread or propagation. Hence, they clearly have a selective advantage for the pathogen.
The virus-containing lesions on the genitalia caused by herpes simplex infection facilitate direct spread. This is when the virus spreads from an infected host to an uninfected partner during sexual contact.
Similarly, diarrheal infections are efficiently spread from patient to caretaker. In many cases, however, the induction of disease has no apparent advantage for the pathogen.
This course teaches healthcare providers how infectious microorganisms spread and why some cause disease. Providers learn how symptoms like herpes lesions and diarrhea aid transmission. Understanding these mechanisms helps them improve infection control, reduce transmission, and protect patients and staff.
Standard and Transmission-Based Precautions
Standard Precautions are used for all patient care.
They’re based on a risk assessment and make use of common sense practices and personal protective equipment. This protects healthcare providers from infection and prevent the spread of infection from patient to patient.
There are two tiers of HICPAC/CDC precautions to prevent transmission of infectious agents, Standard Precautions and Transmission-Based Precautions.
Standard Precautions are intended to be applied to the care of all patients in all healthcare settings, regardless of the suspected or confirmed presence of an infectious agent. Implementation of Standard Precautions constitutes the primary strategy for the prevention of healthcare-associated transmission of infectious agents among patients and healthcare personnel.
Transmission-Based Precautions are for patients who are known or suspected to be infected or colonized with infectious agents, including certain epidemiologically important pathogens, which require additional control measures to effectively prevent transmission. Since the infecting agent often is not known at the time of admission to a healthcare facility, Transmission-Based Precautions are used empirically, according to the clinical syndrome and the likely etiologic agents at the time, and then modified when the pathogen is identified or a transmissible infectious etiology is ruled out.
This course teaches healthcare providers to use Standard and Transmission-Based Precautions to prevent infections. They assess risks, use protective equipment, and apply precautions for all patients. Providers also implement Transmission-Based Precautions for known or suspected infections. These strategies reduce infections, protect staff, and improve patient safety.
Hand Hygiene and Respiratory Hygiene Practices
Many diseases and conditions are spread by not washing hands with soap and clean, running water.
Handwashing with soap is one of the best ways to stay healthy.
If soap and water are not readily available, use a hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol to clean your hands.
Washing hands can keep you healthy and prevent the spread of respiratory and diarrheal infections. Germs can spread from person to person or from surfaces to people when you:
- Touch your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands
- Prepare or eat food and drinks with unwashed hands
- Touch surfaces or objects that have germs on them
- Blow your nose, cough, or sneeze into hands and then touch other people’s hands or common objects
This course teaches healthcare providers the importance of hand hygiene in preventing disease. In this training, healthcare workers can learn when to wash hands, how germs spread, and hygiene’s role in stopping infections. Providers also explore prevention strategies and apply their knowledge in real-world scenarios. Proper hand hygiene protects them, their patients, and healthcare environments.
