This updated sterilisation manual informs health workers about the simple protocols and procedures that have been developed to prevent hospital-acquired infections both inside and outside the sterilisation plant. The guidelines included in this manual show the steps to follow in cleaning, preparing, sterilizing, storing and transporting hospital equipment so as to obtain sterile material. It is very important to be aware of this information in order to provide patients with safe health care.

A clear, hands-on outline of best practices for infection prevention that directly improve patient outcomes across the healthcare continuum.

With more international contributors than ever before, Block’s Disinfection, Sterilization, and Preservation, 6th Edition, is the first new edition in nearly 20 years of the definitive technical manual for anyone involved in physical and chemical disinfection and sterilization methods. The book focuses on disease prevention—rather than eradication—and has been thoroughly updated with new information based on recent advances in the field and understanding of the risks, the technologies available, and the regulatory environments.

Provides guidance to help health planners, estates and facilities managers, sterile services managers and capital planning and design teams to plan and design a sterile services department. It discusses the objectives of a sterile services department (SSD) and service requirements, particularly focusing on: raising standards in decontamination services by optimising the built environment: service requirements strategy: calculating the optimum capacity of an SSD to eradicate bottlenecks: determining the most appropriate location of an SSD. Design guidance based on the above service objectives is outlined. Finally, the finer details of the individual spaces within an SSD are discussed.

Provides a comprehensive overview of the main aspects of infection control, and gives practical, evidence-based recommendations.

Decontamination in Hospitals and Healthcare, Second Edition, enables users to obtain detailed knowledge of decontamination practices in healthcare settings, including surfaces, devices, clothing and people, with a specific focus on hospitals and dental clinics. - Offers in-depth coverage of all aspects of decontamination in healthcare - Examines the decontamination of surgical equipment and endoscopes - Expanded to include new information on behavioral principles in decontamination, control of microbiological problems, waterborne microorganisms, pseudomonas and the decontamination of laundry

1. Introduction to Healthcare-associated Infections 2. Structural Organization of an Infection Control Program 3. Major Healthcare-associated Infection Types 4. Surveillance of Healthcare-associated Infections 5. Standard Precautions-I: Hand Hygiene 6. Standard Precautions-II: Personal Protective Equipment 7. Transmission-based Precautions 8. Infection Control in Special Situations 9. Disinfection Policy 10. Central Sterile Supply Department 11. Environmental Surveillance 12. Screening for Multidrug-resistant Organisms 13. Infection Control in Laundry 14. Infection Control in Kitchen and Food Safety 15. Waste Management in Healthcare Facility 16. Staff Health Issues-I: Needle Stick Injury Management 17. Staff Health Issues-II: Work Restriction and Vaccination 18. Outbreak Investigation 19. Antimicrobial Stewardship 20. Infection Control Requirements for Accreditation Index

The WHO Guidelines on Hand Hygiene in Health Care provide health-care workers (HCWs), hospital administrators and health authorities with a thorough review of evidence on hand hygiene in health care and specific recommendations to improve practices and reduce transmission of pathogenic microorganisms to patients and HCWs. The present Guidelines are intended to be implemented in any situation in which health care is delivered either to a patient or to a specific group in a population. Therefore, this concept applies to all settings where health care is permanently or occasionally performed, such as home care by birth attendants. Definitions of health-care settings are proposed in Appendix 1. These Guidelines and the associated WHO Multimodal Hand Hygiene Improvement Strategy and an Implementation Toolkit (http://www.who.int/gpsc/en/) are designed to offer health-care facilities in Member States a conceptual framework and practical tools for the application of recommendations in practice at the bedside. While ensuring consistency with the Guidelines recommendations, individual adaptation according to local regulations, settings, needs, and resources is desirable. This extensive review includes in one document sufficient technical information to support training materials and help plan implementation strategies. The document comprises six parts.