Chapter 5 Infection Control

Question 1

Mr. X has been a patient at Happy Valley Community Hospital for 5 days. During his stay in the hospital, he was taken to the diagnostic imaging department several times for diagnostic imaging procedures. He was cared for each time he went to that department by a radiographer who had a severe upper respiratory infection. Two days after he returned home from the hospital, he also developed a severe upper respiratory infection. It would be appropriate to say that Mr. X had developed:

Answer 1

A nosocomial infection

Question 2

Mary Mandura, an 82-year-odl white woman, has been hospitalized for several weeks as a result of multiple injuries suffered in an automobile accident. She has been treated with a series of broad spectrum antibiotics to discourage infection. She now has severe diarrhea, and the stool culture has produced C. difficile. This would be called:

Answer 2

A superinfection

Question 3

Acquired immunity

Answer 3

Active production or receipt of antibodies

Question 4

The inflammatory response

Answer 4

The second line of defense against infection

Question 5

The skin, the hair, the acidic condition of the stomach and intestines

Answer 5

The first line of defense against infection

Question 6

Natural active acquired immunity

Answer 6

Antibodies acquired by having a particular disease

Question 7

Antigen-antibody response

Answer 7

The third line of defense against infection

Question 8

There is currently less reason to be concerned about contracting HIV because there is improved treatment and the disease is no longer fatal. (True or False)

Answer 8

False

Question 9

Hepatitis B and C are blood-borne viral infections. When you are caring for a person known to have either diseases, use the following infection control techniques:

Answer 9

• Wear gloves if you may come in contact with blood or body substances.
• Wear goggles if there is a possibility of your being splashed with blood or body substances.

Question 10

Explain the difference between Tier 1 and Tier 2 infection control precautions.

Answer 10

• Tier 1 precautions are the basic standards for health care workers. This keeps health care workers and patients safe, and saves the worker the time it takes to differentiate from the different levels of protection from different diseases. There are differences for blood and body fluids, but these are the general rules for hospitals and health care facilities.
• Tier 2 precautions are procedures based on the possible transmission of diseases. The three main subjects are airborne isolation, droplet isolation, and contact isolation. These are expanded precautions for communicable diseases. Most of these are applied by the health care worker for the specific patient, and is case-by-case.

Question 11

A person who has recently been infected with HIV may have no symptoms of disease, but is able to transmit HIV to another person. (True or False)

Answer 11

True

Question 12

HIV, or the disease that it produces, is transmitted by direct or indirect contact with infected blood or body substances. (True or False)

Answer 12

True

Question 13

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Answer 13

Conducts multi-center studies on diseases and publishes a weekly outline on the statistics of infectious diseases in the United States.

Question 14

World Health Organization

Answer 14

Receives data concerning infectious disease from all countries and complies a report for every country.

Question 15

Food and Drug Administration

Answer 15

Regulates the manufacture and sale of medications to protect health of US citizens.

Question 16

The Joint Commission

Answer 16

Sets requirements for hospital safety and infection control practices.

Question 17

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Answer 17

Controls disposal of medical waste.

Question 18

The radiographer should always dress for the workplace with infection control in mind. This means that:

Answer 18

Clothing must be washable; fingernails must be kept short; shoes must be comfortable and have closed toes; and no jewelry is worn.

Question 19

Microorganisms that need a host cell to reproduce and are virtually unresponsive to antimicrobial drugs are:

Answer 19

Viruses

Question 20

When a person is in the incubation period of the disease process, the radiographer has no control over its transmission. (True or False)

Answer 20

False

Question 21

The radiographer must use strict infection control measures that include blood and body substance precautions for:

Answer 21

Every patient who enters the diagnostic imaging department.

Question 22

Blood and body substance precautions include:

Answer 22

Use of clean, disposable gloves for contact of the hands with blood or body fluids, a mask and goggles if blood or body fluids may spray on your face, and a gown if the blood and body fluids may touch your clothing for any patient care that may involve contact with blood or body fluids.

Question 23

The most common means of spreading infection are:

Answer 23

Human hands

Question 24

The elements needed to produce an infection are a source, a host, and a means of transmission. An example of a source of infection might be:

Answer 24

• A radiography student who has a cold and comes to work
• A visitor in the hospital who has a “fever blister” on her mouth
• A patient who develops pneumonia

Question 25

A safety precaution that must be taken when disposing of used hypodermic needles and syringes is:

Answer 25

To place the syringe immediately after use with the uncapped needle attached directly into the contaminated waste receptacle provided

Question 26

Touching objects that have been contaminated with disease-producing microbes

Answer 26

Indirect contact

Question 27

Ingesting contaminated water, food, drugs, or blood

Answer 27

Vehicle contact

Question 28

Inhaling air contaminated with infectious microbes

Answer 28

Airborne contact

Question 29

Contact with secretions transferred by sneezing, coughing, or talking

Answer 29

Droplet contact

Question 30

Touching contaminated material with hands

Answer 30

Direct contact

Question 31

When caring for a patient whom you know to be infected with HIV and who doesn’t have AIDS, you use standard blood and body fluid precautions and:

Answer 31

• Keep all information concerning the patient confidential

- Keep the patient’s chart in a place where it cannot be read by others

Question 32

The radiographer who has received a needle-stick injury is obliged to notify his or her supervisor at the end of the work day. (True or False)

Answer 32

False (Notify immediately)

Question 33

Hand hygiene is to be used int he following situations by radiographers in the workplace:

Answer 33

• Before caring for a patient
• After caring for a patient
• When preparing of an invasive procedure

Question 34

If it isn’t possible to find a sink to wash hands, it is safe to use alcohol-based hand rubs. (True or False)

Answer 34

True

Question 35

The route of transmission of MRSA, VRE, VRSA, and ESBL is:

Answer 35

Direct contact

Question 36

When the radiographer is to enter the newborn nursery, he or she must do the following:

Answer 36

• Always scrub his hands for 3 minutes

- Always clean his equipment with a disinfectant solution

Question 37

The radiographer entering the room of a patient with tuberculosis (TB) must wear the following:

Answer 37

• Gloves

- An N95 respirator mask