If there is a shortage of private or semi-private rooms to adequately isolate a patient, the Infection Control Practitioner on call should be notified and will lend assistance. It is very important to identify the patient's door and charts. Do not write the patient's disease or diagnosis on the isolation door sign or on the small isolation stickers. The furniture and other surfaces within an isolated patient's room are considered contaminated. Items that cannot be disinfected or are not disposable should remain outside the room whenever possible.
Disposable items are to be used whenever available.
Only 24 hours worth of supplies essential for a patient's care should be kept in the patient's room. The contents may therefore be used if they are removed from the box in a manner in which they will not become contaminated. Any contaminated street clothes should be sealed in a plastic bag and sent home with the family. Give them instructions to wash with detergent and hot water or to dry-clean them. If the family is not present, keep clothes in a bag in the room with the patient.