CBIC Surveillance 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which of the following surveillance strategies focuses resources on high-risk patients, procedures, or units rather than hospital-wide monitoring?
- Prevalence surveillance
- Targeted surveillance (Correct answer)
- Incidence surveillance
- Syndromic surveillance
Correct answer: Targeted surveillance
Targeted surveillance concentrates resources on areas or populations with the highest infection risk, improving efficiency.
Question 2: A point prevalence survey counts:
- New infections occurring in a defined period
- All active infections present on a single day (Correct answer)
- Infection rates per 1,000 patient-days
- Readmissions related to prior HAIs
Correct answer: All active infections present on a single day
A point prevalence survey captures all active infections—both new and existing—present in a population at one point in time.
Question 3: When comparing a facility's CLABSI rate to the NHSN national baseline, the metric used is the:
- Standardized infection ratio (SIR) (Correct answer)
- Relative risk
- Attack rate
- Odds ratio
Correct answer: Standardized infection ratio (SIR)
The Standardized Infection Ratio (SIR) compares observed infections to expected infections based on NHSN national data.
Question 4: Post-discharge surveillance for SSIs is important primarily because:
- Most SSIs are detected before hospital discharge
- Many SSIs manifest after patients leave the hospital (Correct answer)
- CMS requires 60-day post-discharge monitoring
- It replaces the need for inpatient monitoring
Correct answer: Many SSIs manifest after patients leave the hospital
Due to shortened hospital stays, many SSIs present after discharge, so post-discharge follow-up captures infections that would otherwise be missed.
Question 5: In NHSN surveillance, a CAUTI is defined as a UTI in a patient who had an indwelling urinary catheter in place for more than:
- 24 hours
- 48 hours
- 72 hours
- 2 calendar days (Correct answer)
Correct answer: 2 calendar days
NHSN defines CAUTI as a UTI in a patient who had an indwelling urinary catheter in place for more than 2 calendar days at the time of infection.
Question 6: Which data source would be MOST useful for identifying patients with new fever and productive cough for respiratory infection surveillance?
- Surgical procedure logs
- Nursing admission assessments
- Nursing notes and vital sign records (Correct answer)
- Pharmacy dispensing records
Correct answer: Nursing notes and vital sign records
Nursing notes and vital sign records document clinical signs such as fever and respiratory symptoms needed for respiratory infection surveillance.
Question 7: An IP observes that the CLABSI rate in the medical ICU is 2.1 per 1,000 central line-days. To calculate this rate, the IP divided the number of CLABSIs by:
- Total patient-days in the ICU
- Number of central venous catheter insertions
- Total central line-days in the ICU (Correct answer)
- Number of ICU admissions
Correct answer: Total central line-days in the ICU
CLABSI rates are calculated per 1,000 central line-days, so the denominator is the total number of days all patients had central lines in place.
CBIC Surveillance 3
Which of the following surveillance strategies focuses resources on high-risk patients, procedures, or units rather than hospital-wide monitoring?