Week 2- Infection Control Flashcards
True or false: Infection can be defined as “A disease state resulting from the invasion and growth of pathogens in the body”
Answer: True
True or false: A pathogen can cause an infection
Answer: True
True or false: Multidrug-resistant organisms are easily treated with antibiotics and, because of that, are not a risk in facilities.
Answer: False
True or false: Older adults often do not show the usual signs of infection.
Answer: True
True or false: A person who is colonized by a pathogen cannot transfer the pathogen to others.
Answer: False
True or false: The presence of illness and the use of invasive devices increase the risk of infection.
Answer: True
True or false: Wash your hands before or after giving care
Answer: False
True or false: You should hold your hands and forearms up during the handwashing procedure.
Answer: False
True or false: The duration of the hand-wash is not important
Answer: False
True or false: Disinfecting items usually involves chemical
Answer: True
True or false: Unused items in a client’s room can be used for another client.
Answer: False
True or false: Isolation precautions include Standard Practices and Transmission-Based Practices
Answer: True
True or false: Standard Practices are used only when the client has a specific contagious disease
Answer: False
True or false: Transmission-Based Practices are guidelines that help keep pathogens within one area, usually the client’s room
Answer: True
True or false: Gloves are worn at all times
Answer: False
True or false: A mask is contaminated when moist
Answer: True
True or false: Goggles, masks, and gowns are worn when there is a risk of splashing blood or body fluids.
Answer: True
True or false: You do not need to report a sharps injury if the bleeding is not severe
Answer: False
True or false: Double-bagging always requires two people.
Answer: True
True or false: An item is sterile if nonpathogens are present
Answer: False
True or false: A sterile item can touch only another sterile item
Answer: True
True or false: The 2.5cm edge around a sterile field is considered contaminated
Answer: True
Chose the best answer: Most pathogens are destroyed by:
a) Water
b) High Heat
c) Oxygen
d) Nourishment
Answer: B (High-heat)
Chose the best answer: Aseptic practices:
a) Destroy spores
b) Reduce the number of microbes
c) Are a link in the chain of infection
d) Destroy all microbes- pathogens and nonpathogens
Answer: B (Reduce the number of microbes)
Chose the best answer: Standard practices:
a) Are used for all clients
b) Involve surgical asepsis
c) Prevent the spread of airborne pathogens
d) Are not necessary for children or older adults
Answer: A (used for all clients)
Chose the best answer: Gloves are always worn in the following situations:
a) When washing a person’s face
b) When the client has a cold
c) While washing spilled juice from the floor
d) If you bite your fingernails
Answer: D (if you bite your fingernails)
Proper use of personal protective equipment involves the following:
a) Reusing your face mask after your break
b) Using waterless hand sanitizer on disposable gloves for reuse
c) Removing personal protective equipment after leaving the work area
d) Wearing gloves when touching a contaminated item or surface
Answer: D (wearing gloves when touching a contaminated item or surface)
Chose the best answer: A microorganism is:
a) A microbe that can cause harm, such as an infection or a disease
b) A small living plant or animal only seen with a microscope that are everywhere, can be harmful and cause an infection
c) A microbe that does not usually cause an infection or disease and is not harmful to humans
d) Microbes that only live in organic matter such as plants and animals
Answer: B (A microorganism is a small living plant or animal that can be seen only with a microscope, that are everywhere, can be harmful and cause and infection)
Chose all that apply: What are the four major types of microbes:
a) Parasites
b) Endospore
c) Viruses
d) Bacteria
e) Pathogen
f) Fungi
Answer: A, C, D, F
Chose all that apply: The requirements for microbes are:
a) Need a reservoir (host) to live and grow in
b) Need water and nourishment from the reservoir
c) Most need oxygen to live
d) A warm dark environment is needed
e) Most grow best at body temperature
f) They can be destroyed by heat and light
Answer: All are correct about microbes
True or false: Antibiotics are effective against viruses
Answer: False (some antiviral medications can kill specific viruses)
Fill in the blank: Bacteria microbes are surrounded by a protective shell called ___ which protects them from harsh environmental conditions, making them difficult to kill.
a) Candida
b) Lytic shell
c) Endospores
d) Girardia
Answer: C (Endospores)
True or false: A vaccine is a suspension containing a live or killed bacterium or virus that is administered for the purpose of inducing active immunity to a specific infectious disease.
Answer: True
Chose all that apply: Normal flora:
a) Microbes that live and grow naturally in a certain area
b) They are nonpathogens when in a natural reservoir
c) When a nonpathogen is transmitted from its natural site another site or host, it becomes a pathogen
Answer: All
True or false: Microbes are destroyed by a warm, dark environment
Answer: False (Microbes live and grow in a warm and dark environment)
True or false: Items can be sterilized in the home with boiling water.
Answer: True (high-heat temperatures will kill both pathogens and the spores)
True or false: If you must transport a client with an infection that requires droplet or airborne precautions out of his or her room, the client must wear a disposable gown.
Answer: False (They must wear a mask)
True or false: When you remove gloves, the inside is considered clean.
Answer: True
True or false: If a sterile item touches a clean item, the sterile item is considered contaminated
Answer: True (only a sterile item can touch another sterile item)
True or false: If a clean item touches a sterile item, the clean item is considered contaminated.
Answer: False
True or false: If a sterile item is above your waist, it is contaminated
Answer: False (if it falls below your waist it is considered contaminated)
True or false: Microbes exist in six different forms
Answer: False
True or false: Animals are common reservoirs for microbes
Answer: True
True or false: Hands should be held up throughout the handwashing procedure
Answer: False
True or false: Paper towels are used to turn off hand–operated water faucets to avoid contaminating the hands
Answer: True
True or false: Mr. Fox has an infection caused by a wound on his leg. This infection can exit Mr. Fox’s body through his wound
Answer: True
True or false: Pathogens from Mr. Fox’s infection cannot enter another person’s body through a portal of entry
Answer: False
True or false: Portals of entry can include mucous membranes
Answer: True
True or false: The easiest and most important way to prevent the spread of infection is by eating well and staying fit
Answer: False
True or false: Nosocomial or health-care associated infections (HAI’s) are acquired after a person’s released from a health-care facility
Answer: False (acquired once admitted to the hospital that was not present during admissions)
True or false: The respiratory tract is one of the most common sites for nosocomial or health-care associated infections (HAIs)
Answer: True
True or false: When cleaning equipment, the support worker should rinse the item first in cold water
Answer: True (if you rinse in warm or hot water the proteins of the microbes can become thick, sticky and hard to remove)
True or false: An effective and cheap disinfectant for home use may be made by mixing 1 cup bleach with 3 parts water
Answer: False (uses vinegar 1 cup)
True or false: After preparing the effective and cheap disinfectant solution from the above question, it should be labelled “toxic cleaner”
Answer: False
True or false: A simple way to sterilize items in the home is to pour boiling water over them
Answer: True
True or false: After a mask has been worn, the outside part is considered to be contaminated
Answer: True
True or false: Gloves should be changed between tasks (procedures) on the same client
Answer: True
Choose all of the correct answers: Signs and symptoms of systemic infection include:
a) Behavioral changes (especially in older adults)
b) Swelling and redness of the area
c) Presence of dandruff and itchy scalp
d) Low body temperature
e) Chills
f) Decreased pulse
g) Increased respiratory rate
h) Fatigue and loss of energy
i) Increased appetite
j) Discharge from the infected area that may have a foul odour
Answers: A, B, E, G, H, J
Choose all that apply: Nancy is a support worker caring for a client in the home. She should wash her hands:
a) Approximately one half hour before and after giving care
b) Only when the hands are visibly soiled
c) After contact with her own or another’s blood, body fluids, secretions, or excretions
d) After touching objects that are contaminated (eg. soiled linens, garbage bags)
e) Before and after preparing and handling only foods that must be heated
f) Before feeding the client
g) While wearing gloves
h) After personal body functions (eg. going to the bathroom, sneezing)
Answers: C, D, F, H
What guidelines should be followed when cleaning equipment? Choose all that apply:
a) Wear PPE when cleaning items that may be contaminated with blood, body fluids, secretions, or excretions
b) Wash the item with soap and bleach
c) Scrub the item thoroughly
d) After cleaning, rinse the item in cold water
e) Dry the item
Answers: A, C, E
Choose all of the correct answers: You should allow a client to see your face before you put on personal protective equipment:
a) Because children may be afraid if they cannot see your face
b) Because clients with confusion or dementia may be afraid if they cannot see your face
c) To avoid clients thinking you are there to rob them
Answers: A & B
Choose all of the correct answers: When you are assigned to care for a client in isolation, you should tell the nurse if you have:
a) Tattoos under your uniform
b) Broken skin on your face, arms, or legs
c) Fever
d) Vomiting
e) Diarrhea
f) Sore throat
g) Asthma
Answers: B-G
Choose all of the correct answers: The type of sharps containers in home care include:
a) Containers according to employer policy
b) Containers that you can easily open to empty
c) Containers that are puncture-resistant
d) Containers that are leak-proof
Answers: A, C, D
Choose all of the correct answers: When you care for a client with an infection, what precautions should be used when handling contaminated laundry?
a) Sort or rinse only in client care area
b) Hold soiled linens away from your uniform. Wear gloves.
c) Remove soiled linens by folding them with the cleanest areas in the center
d) Linen contaminated with blood, body fluids, secretions, or excretions must be placed in a sturdy-leak proof laundry bag labelled biohazard
e) Bag soiled linen in the room where it was used
Answers: B. D, E
