Seasonal influenza infects millions of Canadians every year. It is highly contagious and can spread rapidly from person to person. Approximately 12,000 hospitalizations and, on average, 3,500 deaths occur in Canada each year as a result of flu cases. Knowledge of standard infection and control principles and practices can help reduce the transmission of flu and other infectious diseases.
1) If you wear gloves while providing care, hand hygiene is not required.
True or False
2) Your infection control department tells you that a patient can be managed using routine practices. This means:
a) The patient does not have any bacteria and does not pose a risk to staff or other patients
b) Any care being provided is routine in nature and presents no risk of infection
c) A risk assessment should be done before providing care and PPE worn as appropriate to the situation and the care being provided
3) The most effective way for health-care providers to protect themselves, their family and their patients from influenza is to:
a) Wear a surgical mask at all times at work
b) Stay at home if they have respiratory symptoms
c) Get an annual flu shot and encourage their family, co-workers and patients to get the flu vaccine annually
d) Not go to work from November to April
4) If your hands are visibly soiled, hand hygiene using alcohol-based hand rub is the preferred method.
True or False
5) Which of the following is not considered a portal of entry for bacteria?
a) Eyes
b) Nose
c) Mouth
d) Intact skin
6) MRSA and other multi-drug-resistant organisms can be transmitted:
a) Through medical equipment that is shared and not disinfected appropriately between patients
b) On the hands of health-care workers who do not perform hand hygiene as indicated in the 4 Moments for Hand Hygiene
c) Through environmental surfaces that are not properly cleaned
d) All of the above
7) If there is no sign on a patient’s door or chart indicating the patient is on additional precautions, then PPE is never required when providing care.
True or False
8) You are working on a Friday night and several patients become symptomatic with vomiting and diarrhea. You should:
a) Wait till Monday morning and then contact infection control
b) No action is required; the day shift will sort it out
c) Place the patients on contact precautions, chart symptoms and follow your facility’s procedure for reporting a suspected outbreak
d) Ignore the situation and pretend you did not notice anything out of the ordinary
9) When assessing a patient, asking about any recent travel history is important because:
a) It provides a talking point to break the ice
b) It may alert you to a travel destination you will mark off your go-to list
c) It may provide information useful for diagnosis, thereby reducing delays in appropriate treatment and management
10) Most health-care-associated infections are transmitted to patients:
a) On the hands of health-care workers
b) From dirty washrooms
c) From hospital food
11) When using alcohol-based hand rub, you should:
a) Apply the hand rub and wave hands until dry
b) Apply a sufficient quantity of hand rub and rub hands for a least 15 seconds, being sure to cover all areas: front, back, between fingers, nail beds and thumbs
c) Apply the hand rub and rub palms together for 10 seconds
d) Apply hand rub when you see infection control staff on the unit
12) It doesn’t matter in what order you remove PPE, as long as you remove it and perform hand hygiene before going to care for another patient.
True or False
Courtesy of Infection Prevention and Control Canada
Answer Key
1) False. Gloves do not provide 100 per cent protection and extended glove use creates an ideal environment for bacteria to multiply. Hand hygiene must be performed before putting on and after taking off gloves.
2) c) A risk assessment should be done before providing care and PPE worn as appropriate to the situation and the care being provided.
3) c) Get an annual flu shot and encourage their family, co-workers and patients to get the flu vaccine annually.
4) False. Alcohol-based hand rub cannot penetrate the dirt to kill organisms. Hands must be cleaned of visible soil and organisms by correctly performing hand hygiene using soap and water.
5) d) Intact skin.
6) d) All of the above.
7) False. A risk assessment must be done before providing care and PPE worn as appropriate for the risk and care being provided.
8) c) Place the patients on contact precautions, chart symptoms and follow your facility’s procedure for reporting a suspected outbreak.
9) c) It may provide information useful for diagnosis, thereby reducing delays in appropriate treatment and management.
10) a) On the hands of health-care workers.
11) b) Apply a sufficient quantity of hand rub and rub hands for a least 15 seconds, being sure to cover all areas: front, back, between fingers, nail beds and thumbs.
12) False. Correct removal of PPE is required to prevent contaminating yourself or the environment.
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