Standard Precautions & Infection Control Training for Pastoral Visitors

Infection Control Training is designed to help you understand how you can help protect yourself from a bloodborne pathogen exposure while observing at the Health System. Bloodborne pathogens are passed from person to person by blood, body fluids, or other potentially infectious materials. Bloodborne pathogens include viruses like hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.  Healthcare workers can become infected with these viruses if they are exposed to a patient's blood or body fluids in a way that can transmit disease, such as a needlestick.  As a Pastoral Visitor, you will not be allowed to perform tasks that will bring you in contact with blood or body fluids so you are at extremely low risk for having an exposure to a bloodborne pathogen.

What is an exposure?
Although pastoral visitors do not normally perform tasks that bring them in contact with blood or body fluids, accidental exposures can occur. If you are exposed to blood or body fluids in any of the following ways you may be at risk for getting a bloodborne pathogen:

  1. Stick with a sharp object that has blood or body fluids on it (needles, scalpel, broken glass);
  2. Getting blood or body fluids on non-intact skin (cuts, abrasions, hangnails, rash);
  3. Getting blood or body fluids into your eyes, nose or mouth; or
  4. Getting blood over a large area of intact skin.
  5. Getting a stick with an unidentified object

As a pastoral visitor you should not be at risk for these kinds of exposures. However, if you do accidentally have one of the above exposures or get blood or body fluids on your clothes, immediately ask for assistance from the nursing staff.  Remove any contaminated clothing without contamination the rest of your body.  Such clothing must be laundered or disinfected before it can be taken home.  Wash any exposed area of your body immediately with soap and running water followed by rubbing alcohol.  If your eyes, nose or mouth are splashed with blood or body fluids, flush them with large amounts of running water.  Report your exposure immediately to the Nursing Supervisor.  The Nursing Supervisor can be reached by having the unit staff or hospital operator page PIC #1523.

Standard Precautions
Standard Precautions are used to prevent health care workers, hospital staff and volunteers from coming in contact with blood or body fluids.  Because no one can tell who may have a bloodborne pathogen, using Standard Precautions means you must consider all patients' blood, body fluids, mucous membranes and tissue to be infected.  Following these precautions will help keep you safe while you visit patients and families.

  • Do not eat, drink, apply cosmetics, lip balm or handle contact lenses in patient care areas.
  • Do not perform CPR or participate in a Code 12 at the Medical Center.
  • Do not handle sharp instruments or glass containers that may be contaminated with blood, body fluids, or human tissue.
  • Do not handle contaminated materials containers (CMC's) that are in use. You may put together new CMC's.
  • Do not handle patient specimens or put food or drink in refrigerators, freezers, or cabinets used to store patient specimens.
  • Do not touch surfaces or objects that may be contaminated with blood or body fluids.
  • Do not observe or get close to a procedure in which splash or spray of blood or body fluids may occur.
  • Do not clean up blood or body fluid spills.
  • Do not handle linen that is visibly soiled with blood or body fluids.

We strongly urge all Visiting Clergy and Pastoral Visitors to wash their hands or use hand sanitizer before and after all visits. If you have any questions about precautions do not hesitate to call us at (434) 924-2642, or talk with a nurse.

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