LPN Standard Precautions and Transmission-Based Precautions 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: When transporting a patient on airborne precautions, what must the patient wear?
- An N95 respirator
- A surgical mask (Correct answer)
- No mask is needed if transport is brief
- A full face shield
Correct answer: A surgical mask
During transport, patients on airborne precautions must wear a surgical mask to contain respiratory secretions; the N95 is worn by healthcare workers, not patients.
Question 2: A nurse accidentally splashes a patient's blood into their eyes. What should they do immediately?
- Apply antibiotic eye drops
- Irrigate the eyes with clean water or normal saline for 15 minutes (Correct answer)
- Wipe the eyes with a sterile gauze pad
- Report to employee health and wait for instructions before doing anything
Correct answer: Irrigate the eyes with clean water or normal saline for 15 minutes
Mucous membrane exposures (including eye splashes) should be immediately irrigated with clean water or saline for at least 15 minutes to reduce risk of bloodborne pathogen transmission.
Question 3: Which statement about contact precautions is accurate?
- A gown is only required for wound care, not routine care
- Gloves must be donned before entering the patient's room (Correct answer)
- Contact precautions apply only to patients with skin infections
- A surgical mask is always required with contact precautions
Correct answer: Gloves must be donned before entering the patient's room
For contact precautions, gloves must be put on before entering the patient's room to prevent contact with contaminated surfaces near the door.
Question 4: What is 'cohorting' in the context of transmission-based precautions?
- Isolating one infected patient in a private room
- Grouping patients infected with the same organism together in a shared room (Correct answer)
- Assigning one nurse to care for all infectious patients
- Designating a hallway for infectious patients only
Correct answer: Grouping patients infected with the same organism together in a shared room
Cohorting involves placing patients infected or colonized with the same pathogen together in a shared room when private rooms are not available, to limit transmission to other patients.
Question 5: A nurse must perform a high-risk aerosol-generating procedure on a patient with COVID-19. What respiratory protection is required?
- Standard surgical mask
- N95 respirator or higher (Correct answer)
- Double-layered surgical mask
- No additional respiratory protection beyond standard precautions
Correct answer: N95 respirator or higher
Aerosol-generating procedures (e.g., intubation, bronchoscopy, suctioning) can produce fine airborne particles, requiring at minimum an N95 respirator to protect the nurse.
Question 6: Which of the following is an example of semi-critical equipment that requires high-level disinfection?
- Surgical scalpel
- Reusable rectal thermometer (Correct answer)
- Blood pressure cuff
- Examination table
Correct answer: Reusable rectal thermometer
Semi-critical items that contact mucous membranes (like rectal thermometers) require high-level disinfection to eliminate all microorganisms except high numbers of bacterial spores.
Question 7: How long should an alcohol-based hand rub be rubbed into the hands to be effective?
- Until it feels dry (approximately 20-30 seconds) (Correct answer)
- 5 seconds
- 60 seconds
- At least 2 minutes
Correct answer: Until it feels dry (approximately 20-30 seconds)
Alcohol-based hand rubs should be rubbed over all hand surfaces until the hands are dry, which typically takes 20-30 seconds to ensure adequate antimicrobial contact time.
LPN Standard Precautions and Transmission-Based Precautions 5
When transporting a patient on airborne precautions, what must the patient wear?