What's the procedures to be followed when a health care worker is or may be exposed to body fluids, blood, etc?

You must always wear gloves and an apron, and a mask to cover your mouth if the patient has an infection and has been coughing. You must always wash your hands before you prepare medication, after you have prepared the medication, before patient contact and after patient contact. Washing your hands are very important as everything in a hospital needs to be clean, especially when you are with patients as if your hands aren't clean you could pass an infection to the patient, it could spread and contaminate other patients. Always use in date equipment, sterilise the equipment like needles that you use. Any equipment that you have used like blood pressure machine, should be cleaned after and sterilised. If a patient has an infection that could spread you must always shut the door when you are with them, put them in their own room to stop it from spreading and take it off your apron and gloves & mask in the room and not to walk around the ward with it on where you could expose others.

If anything has been contaminated by blood or body fluids should be put in the bin and cleaned properly, therefore it prevents exposure. Latex or vinyl gloves should always be worn. If there have been spills on a bed or around a bed or on the floor then the whole place should be cleaned properly with disinfectant and the paper towels thrown in the bin. If clothes have been soiled then they should be put in a laundry bag and not left around.

Good luck

Tell your supervisor, contact employee health. They will guide you through the procedures.

hand washing

gloves

mask

gowns

sterilized instruments

contaminated linens to be discarded n leak proof bags.