A primary concern of the School of Dentistry is to deliver optimal oral care in a manner and environment that is safe for patients, students, faculty and staff. Key to that effort is controlling and mitigating infection.
You can take several steps to stay healthy and reduce the risk of your coworkers and patients becoming ill.
- Do your best to remain well:
- Make sure your immunizations are up to date.
- Follow hand hygiene protocol.
- Stay home if you’re sick.
- Follow standard personal protection precautions, using gloves, masks, protective eyewear and gowns when working with patients.
Keep a clean work environment:
- Comply with equipment processing procedures in the cleaning and sterilization of patient care items.
- Disinfect surfaces, use surface barriers and correctly dispose of regulated waste.
Limit the risk of infection from patients:
- Screen patients for illness, such as flu and colds, and reschedule their appointments, if necessary.
If you suspect a patient has a serious infectious disease, contact your clinic director and UCSF Medical Center’s Department of Hospital Epidemiology and Infection Control (HEIC) at 415.806.0269 (M-F 8 a.m.-4 p.m.). After hours, call the Hospital Nursing Supervisor at 415.353.1964 or Pediatric Nursing Supervisor 415.353.9195. Please refer to the HEIC website for additional guidance: http://infectioncontrol.ucsfmedicalcenter.org.
