(C-DIFF)- Clostridium Difficile Module (1 CEU)

What is Clostridium difficile?

Clostridium difficile is a spore-forming, Gram-positive anaerobic bacillus that produces two exotoxins: toxin A and toxin B. It is a common cause of antibiotic-associated diarrhea (AAD). It accounts for 15-25% of all episodes of AAD. People getting medical care can catch serious infections called health care-associated infections (HCAIs). While most types of HCAIs are declining, C- difficile remains at historically high levels.

Clostridium difficile causes diarrhea linked to 14,000 American deaths each year. Those most at risk are people, especially older adults, who take antibiotics and/or are immunocompromised. When a person takes antibiotics, good germs that protect against infection are destroyed for several months. During this time, patients can get sick from C. difficile picked up from contaminated surfaces or spread from a health care provider’s hands

About 25% of C- difficile infections first show symptoms in hospital patients; 75% first show in nursing home patients or in people recently cared for in doctors’ offices and clinics. C-difficile infections cost at least $1 billion in extra health care costs annually.

Learning Outcomes:

By the end of this Module, the Nurse Assistant will be able to:

• Understand what clostridium difficile is and how it is transmitted
• Define the main clinical symptoms of C-Diff infection
• Understand how caregivers can reduce the spread of C-Diff infection
• Recognize patients at risk for developing C-Diff infection
• Understand the differences between C-Diff colonization and C-Diff infection

Instructions for taking the course

To complete the course successfully, you must go through all the lessons below. You MUST mark each lesson as complete by clicking the MARK COMPLETE BUTTON. If you do not click the mark complete button, you will not be allowed to proceed to the next lesson. Please notice that all lessons have a minimum set amount of time that you are expected to spend on each lesson. You will not be allowed to Mark the Lesson Complete until the timer resets to zero; that is, until the minimum time set for the course has passed. For example if lesson A has an allocated minimum time of 10 minutes, you will have to wait 10 minutes before you can mark Lesson A complete. The Mark Complete button for lesson A will be grayed out and will not become active until 10 minutes are over.

WARNINGIf you forget to click the Mark Complete button done, you will be prompted to go back to that lesson again and have to wait till the allocated timed minutes resets to zero again before the Mark Complete button becomes active. After all lessons are completed and they are Marked Completed, you will then be allowed to take the post test. If you successfully pass the quiz, you will earn CEU’s for this course and you can proceed to print out your certificate.

LESSONS & QUIZ BELOW