BACKGROUND Foot care devices have been linked to healthcare-associated infections and outbreaks [1-7]. The goal is to provide infection prevention and control (IPAC) practice recommendations for foot care. This will include cleaning, disinfection and sterilization processes, and management of the environment, as well as client and healthcare provider safety. Stakeholders Healthcare providers performing foot care in any healthcare setting, which includes, but is not limited to, care provided in private homes, clinics, and healthcare settings. This practice document is written for healthcare providers who provide foot care or reprocess critical foot care devices, and is not intended to address foot care practice performed by the client or the client's family. Companion documents: IPAC Canada Position Statement on Reprocessing of Critical Foot Care Devices (2019) and the IPAC Canada Audit Tool for Foot Care. PRACTICE STATEMENT • The IPAC Canada Position Statement: Reprocessing of Critical Foot Care Devices shall be followed. Clients expect and require safe care regardless of where foot care is performed. Therefore, each client interaction requires a sterile set of critical foot care equipment/ devices [8-10]. Reusable foot care equipment/devices are considered critical devices [8-14]. All healthcare providers are responsible for ensuring that the client is not placed at risk of infection when reusing any foot care equipment/devices during the provision of care.
BACKGROUND Foot care devices have been associated with healthcare-associated infections and outbreaks [1-6]. The goal of this document is to provide infection prevention and control recommendations for the management of critical foot care equipment and/or devices. This will include cleaning, disinfection, sterilization, transportation, and storage.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.