Infection Control and Emergency Response
Infection control
Know standard precautions: hand hygiene before and after every contact, gloves for body fluids, and safe handling of sharps. Transmission-based precautions include contact (e.g., MRSA, C. difficile), droplet (e.g., influenza), and airborne (e.g., tuberculosis). Know the correct order of donning and doffing PPE: gown, mask, goggles, gloves; remove gloves first, then goggles, gown, and mask, with hand hygiene after. C. difficile requires soap and water handwashing because alcohol does not kill spores.
Emergency response
Know basic response to choking, falls, fire, and cardiac arrest. For choking, encourage coughing; if unable, call for help and begin abdominal thrusts per training. For fire, use RACE (rescue, alarm, contain, extinguish) and know evacuation routes. For cardiac arrest, call for help, start CPR if trained, and use an AED if available. Report emergencies immediately and document.
Traps
Questions often bait with skipping hand hygiene or using alcohol gel for C. difficile. Another trap is moving a resident who has fallen before assessing for injury. Also watch for answers that delay calling for help.
Worked example
A resident with C. difficile has diarrhea. The correct action is to wear gloves and gown and wash hands with soap and water; the wrong action is to rely on alcohol gel. Rule of thumb: spores need soap and water, not alcohol.