Infection Prevention, Patient Safety, and Professional/Ethical Practice
What you must understand
Know standard precautions: hand hygiene, gloves, eye protection, and safe handling of sharps. Understand sterilization versus disinfection and the correct reprocessing of airway equipment. Know the principles of patient safety: error reporting, root cause analysis, checklists, and the surgical safety checklist. Understand informed consent, confidentiality, and the duty to disclose errors. Recognize the ethical principles of autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence, and justice. Know the importance of team communication and speaking up when something is wrong. Understand that documentation and honesty are professional obligations.
Traps in questions
A common trap is choosing to hide an error to protect the team; the correct answer is disclosure and reporting. Another is assuming hand hygiene is optional when gloves are worn-gloves do not replace hand hygiene. Watch for questions that confuse sterilization (destroys all microorganisms) with disinfection (reduces pathogens).
Rule of thumb
When in doubt, follow standard precautions and report the event. Patient safety depends on systems and honesty, not on individual blame.