SECTION 300 - ACADEMIC AFFAIRS
326 INFECTION CONTROL IN DENTAL HYGIENE
POLICY
It is the policy of Georgia Perimeter College to follow all CDC
guidelines, OSHA, and state regulations related to infection control and
treatment of biohazardous waste to help insure the health and safety of our
employees, faculty, and students.
PROCEDURE
Universal precautions are used in all matters relating to patient care,
including the following:
A.
All students and faculty must wear
gloves, glasses, facial mask, or chin-length plastic shield when working in a
clinical setting with a patient.
B. All
equipment in the immediate treatment area must be wiped prior to and
immediately following treatment with an EPA approved surface disinfectant. The operator must wear heavy-duty rubber
cleaning gloves.
C. All
disposable items, such as paper products, gauze, plastic and rubber products,
must be promptly and properly disposed and never reused.
D. All
non-disposable items must be placed in an ultrasonic bath prior to hand
scrubbing to reduce opportunity for contamination before being autoclaved.
E. All
buttons, switches, knobs, and head and cone of radiographic equipment must be
wrapped with an impervious plastic barrier material where those surfaces prove
difficult to decontaminate.
F.
All waste products resulting from
patient treatment experiences must be deposited into Biomedical waste
containers which are properly boxed, sealed, transported and incinerated.
G. All
non-expendable, non-autoclavable items coming in contact with a patient's body
fluids must be placed in an ultrasonic bath and then submerged in an EPA
approved solution for a minimum of ten hours.
H. All
disposable needles used in dental anesthesia must be deposited in containers
marked specifically for sharp objects and must never be recapped. Anesthetic syringe recapping is accomplished
with a recapping device or a one-hand procedure.
(Infection control policies and procedures are fully discussed in the
Dental Hygiene Clinic Procedures Manual.)
Revised by Academic Affairs Policy
Council 4/11/00
Approved by College Advisory Board