Ways to Maintain your Health While Working with Sick Children Virus, bacteria, and fungi are known to spread infection and illness among people. The bacteria or germs can pass from one person to another directly or indirectly, by coming in contact with each other or unclean surfaces. Therefore, it is important to maintain cleanliness in the hospital to prevent spreading of infection and germs. Being a nurse, you need to take care of your health to provide the best service for your patient. Nobody likes to be treated or rather, get infected from a nurse suffering from some contagious condition. Therefore, make sure you utilize some hygiene measures to minimize spreading of germs. Get vaccinated The first and most important step is to get vaccinated against potential diseases. Getting vaccinated for diseases makes it easy for a nurse to prevent contraction of various ailments. There are several vaccinations available in the market and as a nurse, it is important to get vaccinated for viruses, bacteria or other germs that can make you sick. Related: 5 Helpful Tips to Improve Communication with Your Coworkers Promote healthy habits Practicing good health care habits are important to make sure you prevent infectious bacteria or other disease-causing germs. While it is very difficult to stay away from sick people, try to avoid close contact with your patients. Keep distance from the patient and cover your hands, mouth and other exposed areas with a cloth to protect yourself from the infection. Viruses and other infections causing bacteria easily spread through the hands, therefore it is important to wash your hands as often as possible to avoid getting an infection. Use an alcohol-based sanitizer to clean your hands frequently through the day. Stay At Home It is important to make sure you do not further spread the infection. If you are sick, take a day off and stay home. Do not go to the hospital or your patient’s home, or you will risk spreading the infection to them. As a nurse, it is your responsibility to prevent the spreading of your diseases as well as the patient’s.
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Isolation is Key If you have a patient that is seriously ill with a contagious disease, they should be isolated to avoid spreading the infection. Isolating the patient will make it easy for the hospital staff to keep the infection under check. Visitors coming in to visit the patients should also be protected from the infection. So when a patient is kept in isolation, the visitors should: â—? Avoid touching or coming in contact with the patient â—? Cover up from head to toe and there should be no exposed body part The visitors may not even be allowed to visit the patient if the infection can be spread by air. Remember, what may seem unharmful can cause a serious complications for you and your patients. Therefore, it is important to take precautionary measures and avoid the potential getting sick. If you are suffering from a flu or cold, cough and sneeze into a tissue and try to keep your hands away from your mouth. Related: International Nurses Association Please follow us on Facebook, Linkedin, Pinterest and Twitter