Safety and Infection Control
What this domain tests
Safety and Infection Control checks whether you can break the chain of infection, apply standard precautions, segregate biomedical waste correctly and act safely in incidents such as a needle-stick injury or a fire.
Core rules and concepts
- The chain of infection has six links: infectious agent, reservoir, portal of exit, mode of transmission, portal of entry and susceptible host. Break any link to prevent infection.
- Standard precautions apply to every patient: hand hygiene, gloves, gown, mask, eye protection, safe sharps handling and clean linen.
- Do not recap needles. Drop sharps straight into a puncture-proof white sharps container; never overfill it.
- Biomedical waste segregation under the 2016 rules: yellow for human anatomical waste, soiled waste, expired medicines and chemical waste; red for contaminated recyclable plastic; white for sharps; blue for glass and metallic implants.
- For a blood spill: wear gloves, cover with absorbent, disinfect with sodium hypochlorite, clean from outside inward, then discard waste correctly.
- Fire safety: RACE means rescue, alarm, contain, evacuate; PASS means pull, aim, squeeze, sweep.
- Patient safety includes bed brakes on, side rails as needed, call bell in reach and correct patient identification.
Worked example. A student is pricked by a used needle. Reasoning: she should not squeeze or scrub the wound. She should wash gently with soap and running water, allow bleeding, apply antiseptic and a waterproof dressing, report immediately to the supervisor, and start post-exposure prophylaxis assessment as soon as possible. The incident must be documented, and the source patient's status assessed.
Traps that cost marks
Never recap needles. Do not put sharps in a red bag. Do not use a weak or wrong bleach dilution. Do not delay reporting a needle-stick injury.