Week 8

Question 1

A nursing student is being assessed for taking infection-control measures by the registered nurse.
Of the following activities, which one has the greatest possibility of contributing to a nosocomial infection and requires correction?
Select one:
a. Washing hands before applying a dressing
b. Washing a suture line with tap water
c. Using alcohol to cleanse the skin before starting an intravenous line
d. Taping a plastic bag to the bed rail for tissue disposal
e. Placing a urinary catheter bag on the bed when transferring a patient

Answer 1

A nursing student is being assessed for taking infection-control measures by the registered nurse.
Of the following activities, which one has the greatest possibility of contributing to a nosocomial infection and requires correction?
Select one:
a. Washing hands before applying a dressing
b. Washing a suture line with tap water
c. Using alcohol to cleanse the skin before starting an intravenous line
d. Taping a plastic bag to the bed rail for tissue disposal
e. Placing a urinary catheter bag on the bed when transferring a patient*

Question 2

A nurse works in a small rural hospital with a wide variety of patients. Of the patients admitted one afternoon, the nurse recognises that the individual with the highest susceptibility to infection is the individual with:
Select one:
a. Burns
b. an obese person
c. Diabetes
d. Pulmonary emphysema
e. Peripheral vascular disease

Answer 2

A nurse works in a small rural hospital with a wide variety of patients. Of the patients admitted one afternoon, the nurse recognises that the individual with the highest susceptibility to infection is the individual with:
Select one:
a. Burns*
b. an obese person
c. Diabetes
d. Pulmonary emphysema
e. Peripheral vascular disease

Question 3

A patient has a large, deep abdominal incision that requires a dressing. The incision is packed with sterile 1 cm packing and covered with a dry 10 ´ 10 cm gauze. When changing the dressing, the nurse accidentally drops the packing onto the patient’s abdomen. The nurse should:
Select one:
a. rinse the packing with sterile water and put the packing into the incision with
sterile gloves
b. Go and have a coffee. It has obviously been a bad day.
c. throw the packing away and prepare a new one
d. pick up the packing with sterile forceps and gently place it into the incision
e. add alcohol to the packing and insert it into the incision

Answer 3

A patient has a large, deep abdominal incision that requires a dressing. The incision is packed with sterile 1 cm packing and covered with a dry 10 ´ 10 cm gauze. When changing the dressing, the nurse accidentally drops the packing onto the patient’s abdomen. The nurse should:
Select one:
a. rinse the packing with sterile water and put the packing into the incision with
sterile gloves
b. Go and have a coffee. It has obviously been a bad day.
c. throw the packing away and prepare a new one*
d. pick up the packing with sterile forceps and gently place it into the incision
e. add alcohol to the packing and insert it into the incision

Question 4

The nurse is aware that it is important to break the chain of infection. An example of a nursing intervention that is implemented to reduce a reservoir of infection for a patient is:
Select one:
a. isolating the patient’s articles
b. wearing disposable gloves
c. covering the mouth and nose when sneezing
d. attending to hand hygiene
e. changing soiled dressings

Answer 4

The nurse is aware that it is important to break the chain of infection. An example of a nursing intervention that is implemented to reduce a reservoir of infection for a patient is:
Select one:
a. isolating the patient’s articles
b. wearing disposable gloves
c. covering the mouth and nose when sneezing
d. attending to hand hygiene
e. changing soiled dressings*

Question 5

A nursing student who cares for patients should be aware of which of the following as the most important way of reducing disease transmission?
Select one:
a. Sterilisation of equipment
b. Hand hygiene
c. The use of disposable gloves
d. The use of isolation precautions
e. The aseptic technique

Answer 5

A nursing student who cares for patients should be aware of which of the following as the most important way of reducing disease transmission?
Select one:
a. Sterilisation of equipment
b. Hand hygiene*
c. The use of disposable gloves
d. The use of isolation precautions
e. The aseptic technique

Question 6

In performing a wound dressing for a patient using sterile asepsis, a nursing student will:
Select one:
a. discard packages that may have been in contact with the area below waist level
b. place the cap of the sterile solution well within the sterile field
c. Wear non-sterile gloves while doing the dressing
d. place sterile items on the very edge of the sterile drape
e. put sterile gloves on before opening sterile packages

Answer 6

In performing a wound dressing for a patient using sterile asepsis, a nursing student will:
Select one:
a. discard packages that may have been in contact with the area below waist level*
b. place the cap of the sterile solution well within the sterile field
c. Wear non-sterile gloves while doing the dressing
d. place sterile items on the very edge of the sterile drape
e. put sterile gloves on before opening sterile packages

Question 7

The chain of infection is described in
which one of the following lists of elements?
Select one:
a. An infectious agent, a portal of exit from the reservoir, a mode of transmission,
a portal of entry into a susceptible host.
b. An infectious agent, a reservoir, a mode of transmission, a portal of entry into a susceptible host.
c. An infectious agent, a reservoir, a portal of exit from the reservoir, a mode of transmission, a portal of entry into a host.
d. An infectious agent, a reservoir, a portal of exit from the reservoir, a mode of transmission, a portal of entry into a susceptible host.
e. The chain of …what?

Answer 7

The chain of infection is described in
which one of the following lists of elements?
Select one:
a. An infectious agent, a portal of exit from the reservoir, a mode of transmission, a portal of entry into a susceptible host.
b. An infectious agent, a reservoir, a mode of transmission, a portal of entry into a
susceptible host.
c. An infectious agent, a reservoir, a portal of exit from the reservoir, a mode of transmission, a portal of entry into a host.
d. An infectious agent, a reservoir, a portal of exit from the reservoir, a mode of transmission, a portal of entry into a susceptible host.*
e. The chain of …what?

Question 8

The nurse knows that Staphylococcus aureus,found normally on the skin, poses a particular risk for a postsurgical patient, who may develop:
Select one:
a. a cold sore
b. a UTI
c. gastroenteritis
d. all of the above
e. a wound infection

Answer 8

The nurse knows that Staphylococcus aureus,found normally on the skin, poses a particular risk for a postsurgical patient, who may develop:
Select one:
a. a cold sore
b. a UTI
c. gastroenteritis
d. all of the above
e. a wound infection*

Question 9

A presurgical patient asks the nurse why it seems ‘so easy to get an infection in the wound’ after surgery. What is the nurse’s most appropriate response to this question?

Select one:

a. ‘The surgical wound provides a path for the microorganisms on the surrounding skin to enter deep into the body’s tissues.’
b. ‘While infections occur, there are many very effective antibiotics available to help minimise the risk of that happening.’
c. ‘The body’s immune system is weakened by the surgery and can’t fight off the infection as effectively.’
d. Now, don’t you worry about it because this is the surgeon’s problem
e. ‘The contaminated dressing acts as a breeding ground for microorganisms, which then infect the wound.’

Answer 9

A presurgical patient asks the nurse why it seems ‘so easy to get an infection in the wound’ after surgery. What is the nurse’s most appropriate response to this question?

Select one:

a. ‘The surgical wound provides a path for the microorganisms on the surrounding skin to enter deep into the body’s tissues.’*
b. ‘While infections occur, there are many very effective antibiotics available to help minimise the risk of that happening.’
c. ‘The body’s immune system is weakened by the surgery and can’t fight off the infection as effectively.’
d. Now, don’t you worry about it because this is the surgeon’s problem
e. ‘The contaminated dressing acts as a breeding ground for microorganisms, which then infect the wound.’