• Practice good hand hygiene techniques.
• Carry soiled items, including linens, equipment, and other used articles, away from the body to prevent them from touching the clothing.
• Do not place soiled bed linen or any other items on the floor, which is grossly contaminated. It increases contamination of both surfaces.
• Avoid allowing patients to cough, sneeze, or breathe directly on others. Provide patients with disposable tissues, and instruct them, as indicated, to cover their mouth and nose to prevent spread by airborne droplets.
• Move equipment away from you when brushing, dusting, or scrubbing articles. This helps prevent contaminated particles from settling on your hair, face, and uniform.
• Avoid raising dust. Use a specially treated or a dampened cloth. Dust and lint particles constitute a vehicle by which organisms can be transported from one area to another.
• Handle used textiles and fabrics, such as bed linens and patient garments, with minimum agitation to avoid contamination of air, surfaces, and people.
• Clean the least soiled areas first and then move to the more soiled ones. This helps prevent having the cleaner areas soiled by the dirtier areas.
• Dispose of soiled or used items directly into appropriate containers. Wrap items that are moist from body discharge or drainage in waterproof containers, such as plastic bags, before discarding into the refuse holder so that handlers will not come in contact with them.
• Pour liquids that are to be discarded, such as bath water, mouth rinse, and the like, directly into the drain to avoid splattering in the sink and onto you.
• Sterilize items that are suspected of containing pathogens. After sterilization, they can be managed as clean items if appropriate.
• Use personal grooming habits that help prevent spreading microorganisms. Shampoo your hair regularly, keep your fingernails short and free of broken cuticles and ragged edges, do not wear artificial fingernails if provision of care includes patient at high risk for infection and associated adverse outcomes; do not wear artificial fingernails or extenders if provision of care includes direct patient contact as identified by facility policy, and do not wear rings with grooves and stones that might harbor microorganisms.
• Follow guidelines conscientiously for infection control or barrier techniques as prescribed by your facility.

Source: Adapted from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (2007; updated 2019). Guideline for isolation precautions: Preventing transmission of infectious agents in healthcare settings. https://www.cdc.gov/infectioncontrol/guidelines/isolation/index.html.