Infection Control and Patient Safety

About this course

Healthcare infection control and patient safety protocols

Learning objectives

• Describe the chain of infection and identify opportunities for breaking transmission pathways in rehabilitation settings.
• Apply standard precautions, including hand hygiene and personal protective equipment use, in all patient care activities.
• Differentiate among contact, droplet, and airborne transmission-based precautions and identify appropriate isolation procedures.
• Identify healthcare-associated infections including MRSA, C. difficile, VRE, and CRE and their implications for rehabilitation.
• Apply principles of environmental decontamination, equipment cleaning, and disinfection in therapy settings.
• Describe OSHA standards for sharps safety and bloodborne pathogen exposure management.
• Identify respiratory infection considerations, including COVID-19 and tuberculosis, relevant to rehabilitation practice.
• Recognize signs of wound infection and apply appropriate management strategies in rehabilitation settings.
• Explain the principles of antibiotic stewardship and the clinical significance of resistant organisms.
• Apply patient safety culture principles, including incident reporting and root cause analysis.
• Implement facility-specific infection control protocols across SNF, home health, and outpatient settings.
• Describe emergency preparedness and outbreak management responsibilities for rehabilitation professionals.

Course outline (14 modules)

1. M1Course Objectives & Financial Disclosures
2. M2Chain of Infection: Pathogens, Transmission, and Host Susceptibility
3. M3Standard Precautions: Hand Hygiene, PPE, and Universal Application
4. M4Transmission-Based Precautions: Contact, Droplet, Airborne Isolation
5. M5Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAIs): MRSA, C. difficile, VRE, CRE
6. M6Environmental Decontamination: Equipment Cleaning, Disinfection, Sterilization
7. M7Sharps Safety, Bloodborne Pathogens, and OSHA Standards
8. M8Respiratory Infections: Influenza, COVID-19, TB — Rehab Implications
9. M9Wound Infection Recognition and Management in Rehabilitation
10. M10Antibiotic Stewardship and Resistant Organisms: What Every Clinician Must Know
11. M11Patient Safety Culture: Reporting Systems, Near Misses, and Root Cause Analysis
12. M12Facility-Specific Infection Control: SNF, Home Health, Outpatient Clinic Protocols
13. M13Emergency Preparedness and Outbreak Management in Healthcare Settings
14. M14References