CKE Patient Safety and Infection Control 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which type of PPE is required for airborne precautions?
- Surgical mask
- N95 respirator (Correct answer)
- Face shield only
- Gloves and gown
Correct answer: N95 respirator
An N95 respirator is required for airborne precautions because it filters out small airborne particles that surgical masks cannot.
Question 2: What is the purpose of a root cause analysis (RCA) in patient safety?
- To assign blame to the responsible staff member
- To identify underlying system causes of a sentinel event (Correct answer)
- To determine how much compensation a patient receives
- To evaluate nurse performance scores
Correct answer: To identify underlying system causes of a sentinel event
A root cause analysis investigates the underlying system and process failures that contributed to an adverse event, not individual blame.
Question 3: Which of the following is a 'never event' in US healthcare?
- Medication delayed by one hour
- Wrong-site surgery (Correct answer)
- Patient fall without injury
- Delayed lab result
Correct answer: Wrong-site surgery
Wrong-site surgery is a 'never event'—a serious, preventable adverse event that should never occur in a properly managed healthcare facility.
Question 4: What does SBAR stand for in healthcare communication?
- Safety, Background, Assessment, Recommendation
- Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendation (Correct answer)
- Safety, Basis, Action, Result
- Situation, Barriers, Analysis, Review
Correct answer: Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendation
SBAR stands for Situation, Background, Assessment, and Recommendation—a structured communication technique used to share patient information.
Question 5: How should a healthcare worker properly remove contaminated gloves?
- Pull from the fingertips of both gloves simultaneously
- Grasp the outside of one glove to remove it, then slide fingers under the other (Correct answer)
- Rip the gloves off quickly and dispose
- Remove gloves by the wrist band and shake them off
Correct answer: Grasp the outside of one glove to remove it, then slide fingers under the other
Proper glove removal involves grasping the outside of one glove to remove it, then using the bare hand to slide under the second glove to avoid contamination.
Question 6: What is a sentinel event in patient safety terms?
- A near-miss that was caught before harm occurred
- An unexpected event resulting in death or serious harm (Correct answer)
- A patient complaint filed with administration
- A medication error that was corrected in time
Correct answer: An unexpected event resulting in death or serious harm
A sentinel event is an unexpected patient safety event that results in death, permanent harm, or severe temporary harm requiring intervention.
CKE Patient Safety and Infection Control 2
Which type of PPE is required for airborne precautions?