Safety, Infection Control, and Emergency Care
Safety
Preventing falls and injury
Most safety questions ask you to spot a hazard before it causes harm. Keep the bed in the lowest position with wheels locked, use side rails only as the resident needs (rails used for turning or mobility are not restraints), keep the call light within reach, and clear the floor. Non-skid shoes, good lighting, and scheduled toileting rounds prevent falls. A resident at high risk for falls does not get up alone.
Body mechanics and equipment
Use a wide base of support, bend at the knees, keep the load close, and pivot instead of twisting. Get help or use a mechanical lift for anyone who cannot bear weight - never lift a resident with your arms alone. Check the gait belt, wheelchair locks, and oxygen tubing before moving.
Fire and oxygen
Use RACE for fire: Rescue, Alarm, Contain, Extinguish or Evacuate. Use PASS for an extinguisher: Pull, Aim, Squeeze, Sweep. With oxygen in use, post a no-smoking sign, keep the tank secure and upright, and avoid petroleum-based products near the face.
Restraints
Restraints require an order and are a last resort. They are never used as punishment or for staff convenience. Check circulation, release and reposition at least every two hours, and document.
Traps
Questions often pair a helpful-sounding action with a hidden hazard - propping a door open with a walker, letting a call light cord trail, or lotion between the toes. Report every incident to the nurse immediately, even if no one was hurt.
Rule of thumb
If you would not want your own family member in that situation, fix it before you leave the room.
Infection Control and Emergency Care
Standard precautions first
Treat every resident's blood, body fluids, secretions, and non-intact skin as potentially infectious. Wash with soap and water when hands are visibly soiled or after caring for a resident with C. difficile or norovirus; otherwise an alcohol-based rub is acceptable. Hand hygiene is the single most effective way to prevent infection.
Put on PPE in this order: gown, mask, goggles, gloves last. Remove in reverse, gloves first, and clean your hands afterward.
Transmission-based precautions
Contact (MRSA, C. difficile, scabies) needs gloves, gown, and often dedicated equipment. Droplet (influenza, pertussis) needs a mask plus standard precautions. Airborne (tuberculosis, measles, varicella) needs a fit-tested N95 respirator and a negative-pressure room. Residents on precautions still go to tests and appointments - tell the receiving staff.
Hold linen away from your body, never shake it, and bag it in the room. Clean spills with the approved disinfectant and pick up sharps with a tool, never your fingers.
Emergencies
Choking: encourage coughing; if the airway is blocked, give abdominal thrusts and call for help. Unresponsive: call for help, start CPR, use the AED when available. Seizure: protect the head, clear the area, do not restrain or put anything in the mouth, and time it. Bleeding: apply direct pressure, with gloves on. Burns: cool running water - no ice, no ointments.
Traps
Answers that say finish the task first, reuse gloves between residents, or delay calling for help are always wrong.