Asepsis and Infection Control

A client is admitted to the hospital with tuberculosis. Which statement by the nurse explains how to reduce the risk of transmission to others?

"All visitors who enter the room must wear N95/surgical masks."

A client is being admitted to the hospital for elevated temperature for the past 24 hours. He had his right knee replaced 4 days ago in the same facility. Which assessment is a priority for now?

Auscultate lung sounds.

A nurse has finished providing care for a client who is on contact precautions. When removing the protective gown, the nurse should take which action?

Avoid touching the outer surfaces of the gown.

The nurse is donning a pair of sterile gloves. The nurse correctly dons the first glove, but inadvertently inserts the thumb and index finger into the thumb hole of the second glove. The glove remains intact. Which action is most appropriate?

Continue to don the glove, then use the other gloved hand to carefully insert the finger into the proper hole.

Which nursing action carries the greatest likelihood of contributing to the spread of vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE)?

Emptying the Foley catheter bag of a client with VRE and then helping the client in the next bed transfer to a chair without washing hands between contact.

Upon review of a client's microbiology culture results, the nurse recognizes which organism as indicative of normal flora?

Escherichia coli in the intestinal tract

The nurse working with the hospital's infection control team is attempting to decrease the transmission of healthcare-associated pathogens. Which intervention will be most effective?

Incentivizing health care workers to utilize hand hygiene

The nurse administered an antipyretic drug to a client with high-grade fever of 101.4°F (38.6°C). Which intervention should the nurse perform next?

Reassess temperature after 1 hour and document results in the chart.

A client is to have an indwelling urinary catheter inserted. Which precaution is followed during this procedure?

Surgical asepsis technique

The nurses on a busy surgical ward use hand hygiene when caring for postsurgical patients. Which action represents an appropriate use of hand hygiene?

The nurse keeps fingernails less than 1/4 in (0.63 cm) long.

The nurse caring for clients at an outpatient clinic determines that which client is at greatest risk for infection?

an 80-year-old woman

The nurse is assigned to four clients who report elevated temperature. Based on their admitting diagnoses, the clients are at risk for developing infection. Which client should the nurse see first?

cancer client undergoing chemotherapy

The process of phagocytosis involves:

digestion of microbes by white blood cells.

Personal protective equipment for use with standard precautions includes which items? Select all that apply.

face mask disposable gloves eye protection fluid-repellent gown

The nurse is caring for a client who developed pneumonia while hospitalized. How will the nurse document this condition?

health care-associated infection (HAI)

A nurse is working with a 55-year-old woman diagnosed with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). This nurse has another client that day who has an upper respiratory infection. What is the most important thing the nurse can do to prevent the client with HIV from acquiring the upper respiratory infection?

perform hand hygiene before and after entering the client's room

A nurse is preparing an operating room theatre for a surgical procedure. Which point regarding the principles of surgical asepsis should the nurse keep in mind when preparing sterilized surgical instruments?

A commercially packaged surgical item is not considered sterile if past expiration date.

A school nurse is conducting a program for the parents about common childhood illness. Which information do parents need to know about preventing childhood illness?

Early infection treatment is needed to prevent the spread of infection.

The nurse must assign a room for a client admitted with endocarditis and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in the blood. A client with which diagnosis can share a room with this client?

MRSA in the wound

The nurse is caring for a client who has been placed in strict isolation. Which nursing action is appropriate?

Remove fresh fruit from the room.

The student nurse observes another nurse wash her hands in the client's bathroom before exiting the room. This client's stool came back positive (+) for Clostridium Difficile (C diff). Why is this behavior incorrect?

The bathroom is highly contaminated with the Clostridium difficile bacteria.

The nurse is preparing to apply a prescription ointment to the client's wound. After reviewing the image, what is the most important step for the nurse to take?

Use a sterile cotton-tipped applicator to apply the prescription to the site

A client with cancer has been receiving chemotherapy for the past few weeks. The nurse is concerned about infection and is reviewing the white blood cell count (WBC) in the chart. Which result supports this concern?

WBC of 25,000 mcL

An older adult client tells the nurse, "I do not understand why I have had so many episodes of infection lately." How should the nurse respond?"As we age, our immune system does not function as well."

"As we age, our immune system does not function as well."

An infection-control nurse is discussing needlestick injuries with a group of newly hired nurses. The infection control nurse informs the group that most needlestick injuries result from:

recapping a needle.