Infection prevention in alternative health care settings.

ABSTRACT

With the changing health care delivery, patients receive care at various settings, including acute care hospitals, skilled nursing facilities (SNFs), and ambulatory clinics, thus becoming exposed to pathogens. Various health care settings face unique challenges requiring individualized infection control programs. The programs in SNFs should address surveillance for infections and antimicrobial resistance, outbreak investigation and control plan for epidemics, isolation precautions, hand hygiene, staff education, and employee and resident health programs. In ambulatory clinics, the program should address triage and standard transmission-based precautions; cleaning, disinfection, and sterilization principles; surveillance in surgical clinics; safe injection practices; and bioterrorism and disaster planning.