Point of Care Assessment
Point of Care Risk Assessment Table
The Point of Care Risk Assessment (PCRA) is an assessment performed by healthcare workers and other staff before every resident interaction.
The PCRA will help you decide what Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to use in order to reduce the risk of exposure to the infectious disease. The PCRA is to ask the following 3 questions and make a decision about what PPE one will wear based on the answers:
- What tasks am I doing with the resident?
- Am I doing direct care or indirect care?
- What is the status of the resident?
- Has the resident been exposed to or diagnosed for the infectious disease?
- Is the resident capable of wearing a surgical mask? (does not refer to a N95 mask)
- Where am I performing my task and are there other people with the infectious disease present?
- Am I performing my task in a room or common area where there are other people infected?
Use the results of the assessment to choose which PPE to use in order to break the chain of transmission and reduce the risk of exposure to the infected person or contaminated areas.
