Infection Control, Sterilization, and Safety Requirements
What the exam tests
This domain tests standard precautions, instrument processing, surface and waterline management, and sharps safety. Illinois expects practice consistent with CDC and OSHA standards, and the exam probes whether you can identify a breach in an everyday scenario.
Core rules
- Use standard precautions with all patients: hand hygiene, gloves, masks, eye protection, and gowns as indicated.
- Critical and semi-critical instruments must be cleaned and sterilized, typically by autoclave, with monitoring such as spore testing and chemical indicators.
- Single-use items are not reused. Sharps go into puncture-resistant containers; needles are not recapped by hand.
- Surfaces are cleaned and disinfected or barrier-protected between patients. Dental unit waterlines require maintenance and monitoring.
- A written exposure control plan and post-exposure evaluation are required for occupational exposures.
Worked example
After a prophylaxis, an instrument is wiped with a disinfectant wipe and placed in a drawer. This fails: the instrument is contaminated, and a surface wipe is not sterilization. The correct chain is transport in a labeled container, cleaning, packaging with an indicator, autoclaving, and storage. The breach is both an infection-control failure and a recordable safety problem.
Traps
- “Cold sterile” or disinfectant-only processing of critical instruments.
- Skipping spore testing because the autoclave “looks fine.”
- Using gloves as a substitute for hand hygiene between patients.
- Recapping needles by hand or overfilling sharps containers.