Infection Prevention and Control
What the domain tests
Infection prevention questions test the chain of infection and the standard precautions that break it. Know the six links-infectious agent, reservoir, portal of exit, mode of transmission, portal of entry, susceptible host-and match interventions to links.
Concepts to master
Standard precautions apply to every patient regardless of diagnosis: hand hygiene, gloves, gowns, masks and eye protection based on anticipated exposure, safe sharps handling, and safe injection practices. Transmission-based precautions add to standard precautions: contact (direct and indirect), droplet (large respiratory droplets over short distances), and airborne (small particles requiring airborne infection isolation and fit-tested respiratory protection). Know when hand hygiene is required-before and after patient contact, before aseptic tasks, after body fluid exposure risk, and after touching patient surroundings. Understand aseptic technique for invasive procedures, sterile field rules, and the difference between cleaning, disinfection, and sterilization. Know isolation precautions are discontinued per policy, not by convenience, and that equipment must be cleaned between patients.
Traps
Questions often present gloves as a substitute for hand hygiene-they are not. Another trap is choosing airborne precautions for an organism spread by droplets, or forgetting that standard precautions still apply alongside transmission-based ones. Watch for reuse of single-use items and for entering a sterile field with nonsterile items.
Rule of thumb
Ask "which link am I breaking?" If your intervention does not interrupt a specific link, it is probably not the answer.
Worked example
A patient has a draining wound with suspected resistant organisms. Contact precautions plus standard precautions are indicated; gloves and gown for room entry, dedicated equipment, and hand hygiene before and after-gloves never replace hand hygiene.