Infection Control and Prevention Flashcards

Which level of precautions is used for ALL patients regardless of suspected or confirmed infection status in US health care settings?

Answer: Standard Precautions

Standard Precautions apply to every patient interaction in all health care settings, treating all blood, body fluids, and non-intact skin as potentially infectious.

A patient is diagnosed with active pulmonary tuberculosis. Which type of transmission-based precautions should the community nurse recommend?

Answer: Airborne Precautions with negative pressure room and N95 respirator

Active TB requires Airborne Precautions including a negative pressure isolation room and an N95 respirator because TB bacilli travel on small airborne particles.

The community health nurse is teaching proper hand hygiene. According to CDC guidelines, which situation requires handwashing with soap and water rather than alcohol-based hand rub?

Answer: When hands are visibly soiled or after contact with a patient with Clostridioides difficile (C. diff)

Soap and water are required for visibly soiled hands and after caring for C. diff patients, as alcohol-based hand rubs are ineffective against C. diff spores.

Which vaccine-preventable disease is characterized by a prodrome of Koplik's spots followed by a maculopapular rash spreading from head to trunk?

Answer: Measles (rubeola)

Koplik's spots (bluish-white spots on the buccal mucosa) followed by a cephalocaudal maculopapular rash are classic presentations of measles.

A community nurse is managing a norovirus outbreak at a long-term care facility. Which action is MOST important to contain spread?

Answer: Cohort ill residents, implement Contact Precautions, enforce hand hygiene with soap and water

Norovirus outbreaks in congregate settings require cohorting ill persons, Contact Precautions, and soap-and-water handwashing because alcohol hand rub is less effective against norovirus.

Which of the following is the CDC's recommended sequence for donning (putting on) PPE in a health care setting?

Answer: Gown, mask/respirator, eye protection, gloves

The CDC donning sequence is: gown first, then mask/respirator, then eye protection/face shield, and finally gloves, ensuring each layer protects the next.