Personal protective equipment (PPE) is the physical protection measures that are used to protect nurses from infection during care. These may include body excretions, which may be transmitted through contact with patients or within the ward where patients are being treated, and these may be specifically airborne pathogens. The PPE protects healthcare providers from being into contact with the pathogens during their daily routine since pathogens are routinely present in healthcare settings. Most healthcare providers have contracted diseases during their daily routine. As a result, the evolution of PPE as a means of protecting individuals in the healthcare environment from sprays and body fluids has brought a remarkable milestone in the provision of safety measures to healthcare providers and support staff within the same healthcare settings. The use of PPE is now considered as "standard practice" by healthcare providers and support healthcare workers from infections.
Previous studies have focused on the importance of PPE as an evidence-based practice to protect healthcare workers from infection. The increase in the "severe acute respiratory syndrome emphasized the importance of personal protective equipment since most infected were the healthcare providers" ( Fischer, Weber & Wohl, 2015 ). The handling of the PPE is important as the pathogen remains on the surface of the equipment. Besides, the outbreak of the Ebola virus in 2015 killed many healthcare providers, and this underlined the importance and reliance on PPE. The risks of exposure can occur through contact, droplets, and airborne, and the healthcare staff becomes more vulnerable to infections as they easily contract it from patients. This makes patients and healthcare staff more susceptible to hosts of disease-causing microorganisms. The individuals in peripheral healthcare, such as support staff, are equally at significant risk of infection.
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The clinical studies and research examining the significance of PPE in minimizing the risk of transmission of infections to healthcare providers have been examined. The support staff identifies PPE as evidence-based primary interventions that help in minimizing infections amongst nurses. The healthcare providers are a significant factor in the transmission of pathogens to patients or their environmental surfaces and, therefore, hand hygiene compliance by nurses and healthcare providers in general ( Zellmer, Van Hoof & Safdar, 2015 ). The use of gloves as PPE is, therefore, highly regarded as a means of disrupting point of "contact in the chain of transmission as an important strategy to prevent healthcare-acquired infections." The suboptimal removal of PPE, such as gloves or aprons, can contaminate the healthcare staff and their environment. Nurses need to take the risk assessment to ascertain whether the personal protective equipment is required and the conversant with how to handle the PPE safely.
The information on the patient's infectious status may not always be known to the healthcare providers. Therefore healthcare staff needs to comply with the safety measures and routinely use the PPE. It will act as physical barriers to pathogens when there is potential transmission of infection but unidentified by the nurses. Normally, the choice of effective PPE is based on the type of care and the likely mode of transmission ( Hersi et al., 2015 ). The use of PPE is determined by clinical situations, such as an established precaution. All patients are regarded as though their body fluids and blood are potentially infected by unknown pathogens regardless of status. Besides, a transmission-based precaution outlines that at least one transmissible pathogens present, and therefore the use of the PPE is necessary for all healthcare staff in their daily routine.
There are various PPE used in healthcare provision, which includes "gloves, aprons, long-sleeved gowns, surgical masks, goggles, face visors, and respirator masks." The nurse should do the risk analysis on whether or not the PPE is necessary to be used by assessing the infectious status of the patients. The healthcare staff should always comply with precautions, putting into consideration the standard healthcare precaution for the care of all their patients and the environment.
Gloves are Personal protective equipment that should be worn by the nurses to prevent them from exposure to blood, body secretion, and body fluids. The increased awareness among healthcare providers of the potential protection against pathogens has led to increased use of gloves by healthcare staff. However, healthcare workers need to understand how to use the gloves as it can be a potential risk to the transmission of infectious diseases to vulnerable patients and the healthcare workers themselves. The use of Aprons, especially the plastic made, is designed to protect uniform during direct contact patient care and mostly where there is extensive contamination of blood ( Kim et al., 2018 ). Eye protection visors must be worn when there is a risk of splashing body fluids such as sneeze onto the mucous membrane. Moreover, the eye can be protected by wearing goggles, and it also is advisable for the reusable visors to be decontaminated after removing the equipment safely. In contrast, the single-use visors should be disposed of appropriately after use.
The surgical masks are used by healthcare providers to provide physical barrier protection from splashes and droplets to the nose, mouth, and respiratory tract. All healthcare providers should wear masks in the surgical room. These have protected healthcare providers during surgical procedures. In addition to this, respirator masks are used by the healthcare staff for respiratory protection from pathogens spread by an airborne route such as tuberculosis ( Fischer, Weber & Wohl , 2015). The proper handling and use of this equipment are necessary, and healthcare workers should be well conversant on the use. Generally, the PPE is mainly used in the health care environment. When effectively, PPE protects nurses against pathogens such as bacteria and viruses. They have the potential to prevent the transmission of infections from blood, body secretions, or body fluids. The PPE requires proper use, which includes effective removal and disposal to prevent the exposure of the health care user and the people within the same environment.
Health care providers need to have a thorough comprehension of infection prevention. This is required for the healthcare providers and the general public from contracting infections. Personal protective equipment is, therefore, the first defense for all staff in the health settings. The use of PPE needs proper assessment, knowledge of the suitability of the PPE of different types in particular clinical conditions, and their right use. It will enable the health staff to protect themselves from infectious diseases that kill many health providers. Understanding the rationale for the use of PPE enable nurses and other healthcare providers to choose appropriate method while providing care to the patient ( Zellmer, Van Hoof & Safdar, 2015 ). The proper use of PPE helps healthcare workers and patients from the transmission of pathogens. The nurses should also be knowledgeable of the risk they are exposed to the transmissible infection from direct or indirect contact with body fluids equipment or environment. The health caregivers should also consider that the PPE is mainly comprised of single-use, and wastage is minimized by necessary analysis of the needs.
References
Fischer II, W. A., Weber, D. J., & Wohl, D. A. (2015). Personal protective equipment: Protecting health care providers in an Ebola outbreak. Clinical therapeutics , 37 (11), 2402-2410.
Hersi, M., Stevens, A., Quach, P., Hamel, C., Thavorn, K., Garritty, C., ... & Eremin, S. (2015). Effectiveness of personal protective equipment for healthcare workers caring for patients with filovirus disease: a rapid review. PloS one , 10 (10).
Kim, S. M., Hong, S. O., Chung, H. S., & Park, J. Y. (2018). Safe handling of cytotoxic drugs and use of personal protective equipment among nurses at a regional cancer center. Asian Oncology Nursing , 18 (4), 206-213.
Zellmer, C., Van Hoof, S., & Safdar, N. (2015). Variation in health care worker removal of personal protective equipment. American journal of infection control , 43 (7), 750-751.
