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A nursing manager is concerned about the number of infections on the hospital unit. What action by the manager should reduce the number of infections?
- A. Auditing staff members hand hygiene practices
- B. Ensuring clients are placed in appropriate isolation
- C. Establishing a policy to treat urinary infections quickly
- D. Teaching staff members about infection control methods
Correct Answer: A
Rationale: All methods will help prevent infection; however, health care workers' lack of hand hygiene is the biggest cause of healthcare-associated infections. The manager can start with a hand hygiene audit to see if this is a contributing cause.
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A hospitalized client is placed on Contact Precautions. The client needs to have a computed tomography (CT) scan. What action should the nurse take?
- A. Ensure that the radiology department is aware of the isolation precautions.
- B. Plan to travel with the client to ensure appropriate precautions are used.
- C. No special precautions are needed when this client moves on unit.
- D. Notify the physician that the client cannot leave the room for the CT scan.
Correct Answer: A
Rationale: Clients in isolation should leave their rooms only when necessary, such as for a CT scan that cannot be done portably in the room. The nurse should ensure that the receiving department is aware of the isolation precautions needed to care for the client. The other options are not needed.
A client with an infection has a fever. What actions by the nurse help increase the client's comfort?
- A. Administer antipyretics around the clock.
- B. Change the client's gown and linens when damp.
- C. Offer cool fluids to the client frequently.
- D. Place ice bags in the warm areas.
- E. Provide a fan to help cool the client.
Correct Answer: B,C
Rationale: Comfort measures appropriate for this client include offering frequent cool drinks and changing linens or the gown when damp. Fever is a defense mechanism, and antipyretics should be administered only when the client is uncomfortable. Ice bags can cool the client quickly but are not comfort measures. Fans are discouraged because they can disperse microbes.
A student nurse asks why brushing clients' teeth with a toothbrush in the intensive care unit is important to reduce the number of infections. The answer is?
- A. It mechanically removes biofilm on teeth.
- B. It is easier to clean all surfaces with a brush.
- C. Oral care is important to all care clients.
- D. Toothbrushes last longer than oral swabs.
Correct Answer: A
Rationale: Biofilms are a complex group of bacteria that function within a slimy gel on surfaces such as teeth. Mechanical disruption (i.e., toothbrushing with friction) is the best way to control them. The other answers are not accurate.
A client is admitted with possible sepsis. Which action should the nurse perform first?
- A. Administer antibiotics.
- B. Give an antipyretic.
- C. Place the client in isolation.
- D. Obtain specified cultures.
Correct Answer: D
Rationale: Prior to administering antibiotics, the nurse must obtain the ordered cultures. Broad-spectrum antibiotics will be administered until the culture results are available to ensure the infection is appropriately treated.
Which action by the nurse is most helpful to prevent clients from acquiring infections while hospitalized?
- A. Assessing skin and mucous membranes
- B. Consistently using appropriate hand hygiene
- C. Administering antibiotics promptly
- D. Teaching visitors not to visit if they are ill
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: Consistent practice of proper hand hygiene is the best method to prevent infection, as most healthcare-associated infections are due to staff members' contaminated hands. Assessing the client and monitoring laboratory values will help the nurse catch signs of infection quickly, but will not prevent infection from occurring. Teaching visitors not to visit when they are ill will also help prevent infection, but not to the degree that hand hygiene will.