Patient education: Isolation precautions (The Basics)

What are isolation precautions? — "Isolation precautions" are safety measures that are taken to keep an infection from spreading between people. Infections are illnesses caused by germs, such as bacteria or viruses. Some types of germs can spread from person to person.

When a person in the hospital is sick with an infection, doctors and nurses must take certain steps to keep the infection from spreading to others.

Isolation precautions are extra safety measures taken in addition to "standard precautions." Standard precautions are steps doctors and nurses take to protect all patients. These include things like:

●Washing their hands regularly

●Wearing a mask, gloves, gown, goggles, or shoe covers around blood or other body fluids

●Covering their mouth if they cough

●Cleaning all medical tools and equipment

Isolation precautions involve these things plus other specific steps.

Why might I need isolation precautions? — If you have an infection that could spread to other people, the hospital staff will take certain steps to prevent this from happening. This is because the doctors and nurses caring for you also need to take care of many other patients. Isolation precautions lower the chance that your doctor or nurse might catch your infection or spread it to someone else.

The precautions you need depend on the type of infection you have and how it spreads. You might need more than 1 type of precaution.

Types of isolation precautions include:

●Contact precautions – These are used if your infection can spread by someone touching you or an object or surface you have touched.

Anyone coming into your room will wear special gowns and gloves.

●Droplet precautions – These are used if your infection can spread through "respiratory droplets." When you sneeze, cough, or talk, tiny droplets of fluid are sprayed from your mouth and nose. These droplets can carry germs. If other people breathe in the tiny droplets with germs, or if they touch something the germs have landed on, they can become infected.

Anyone coming into your room will wear a surgical mask (figure 1) and gloves. You might also need to wear a mask when someone is in the room with you, and when you leave the room. Always cover your mouth when coughing or sneezing, and wash your hands after (figure 2).

●Airborne precautions – These are used if your infection can spread through smaller particles in the air. These particles can come from your mouth and nose when you breathe, talk, sneeze, or cough.

You will stay in a special room where airflow is controlled. This is called a "negative pressure room" or "airborne infection isolation room." Air from outside flows into the room. Air from inside your room goes through special filters before flowing back out. The door will always be kept shut. Anyone coming into your room will wear a special type of mask called a "respirator" (figure 1). You might also need to wear a respirator mask when you leave the room. Always cover your mouth when coughing or sneezing, and wash your hands after (figure 2).

You might also need isolation precautions if you are very sick and your body cannot fight off infections. This is to protect you from other people's germs:

●Reverse isolation precautions – These are also called "neutropenic precautions." They are used sometimes to protect you from germs if you have a condition called "neutropenia." This is when the body's white blood cell count is very low. White blood cells are part of your body's infection-fighting system and help keep you from getting sick. You might have neutropenia if you are very sick, or because of a treatment you are having, such as chemotherapy for cancer.

You might stay in a room with a special air filter. The door will always be kept shut. Anyone coming into your room will wear special masks, gowns, and gloves (figure 1). You might also need to wear a mask when someone is in the room with you, and when you leave the room.

What else should I know?

●There might be signs on the door of your room about the isolation precautions. This is to tell anyone coming into the room what safety measures they need to take. The rules apply to anyone who visits your room, not just hospital staff.

●You might have your own hospital room if your infection is very easily spread or very dangerous. If there are other people in the hospital with the same infection, you might stay in a room with them.

●How long you need to take isolation precautions depends on the type of infection you have. It also depends on how long you can spread it to other people. Ask your doctor or nurse about your specific situation.

More on this topic

Patient education: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) (The Basics)
Patient education: Ebola (The Basics)
Patient education: Flu (The Basics)
Patient education: Bird flu (avian influenza) (The Basics)
Patient education: Measles (The Basics)
Patient education: Tuberculosis (The Basics)
Patient education: Whooping cough (The Basics)
Patient education: Lowering the risk of spreading infection (The Basics)

Patient education: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) (Beyond the Basics)
Patient education: Influenza prevention (Beyond the Basics)
Patient education: Tuberculosis (Beyond the Basics)