What type of precautions should healthcare workers follow to ensure patient safety?

Standard precautions are essential measures that healthcare workers should implement to ensure patient safety during the delivery of care. These precautions are designed to protect both patients and healthcare providers from the transmission of infections, regardless of the patient's known infection status.

Standard precautions encompass the use of protective barriers such as gloves, masks, gowns, and eye protection when splashes or exposure to blood or bodily fluids is anticipated. This approach integrates the principles of hand hygiene, waste disposal, and aseptic technique to minimize the risk of infection.

Furthermore, standard precautions apply to all patients in all healthcare settings, which is a major reason why they are foundational for infection control practices. This comprehensive approach allows for the effective prevention of healthcare-associated infections and promotes a safer environment for both patients and healthcare professionals.

In contrast, while other terms like "universal precautions" may historically refer to certain infection control practices primarily related to bloodborne pathogens, they are considered part of the broader standard precautions framework today. Enhanced and basic precautions are less commonly defined in healthcare settings, making standard precautions the most appropriate and universally accepted guideline for ensuring patient safety.