Question 98 of 100
(demo test)
Product Demo for COA Exam Questions
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Your clinic follows universal precautions for blood and body fluids. Your supervisor asks you to review the list with a new employee. All of the choices below are part of universal precautions EXCEPT which one?
Recapping a used needle is the one habit on this list that universal precautions forbid. Universal precautions are safety rules for blood and body fluids. They came out of the AIDS epidemic. They tell every worker to treat all human blood, and all body fluids with visible blood, as infectious. A dirty needle must never be bent, clipped, or recapped. Right after use it goes into a puncture-resistant sharps container. Recapping brings your free hand back toward the sharp tip. That is how needle sticks happen.
The other three choices come straight from the same rule list. You wash your hands before and after patient contact. You wash them again at once if blood gets on them. You wear gowns when your skin or clothes may be soiled. You wear masks when body fluids could reach you through the air. You wear gloves any time body fluids may touch you. These rules block germs carried in blood, such as HIV and hepatitis B virus (HBV). The federal rule behind them is the OSHA standard “Occupational Exposure to Bloodborne Pathogens”. It covers any medical office with even one worker who may meet blood at work. Blood spills are cleaned with bleach and water: a 1:100 mix on smooth surfaces and a 1:10 mix on porous ones.
Take one plain rule into the exam room. Any step that brings your hand back to a used sharp is unsafe. The needle goes straight into the sharps box, untouched. Knowing and using these rules is a core part of the COA infection control content area.
Incorrect Answers
- B. Hand washing before and after each patient is rule number one on the universal precautions list, so it belongs here.
- C. Gowns are listed as a barrier for soiled skin or clothing, so wearing one is correct practice, not an exception.
- D. Masks are listed for fluids that can reach you through the air, so this choice is also part of the rules.
Testing Pearls
- Contaminated needles are never recapped, bent, or clipped; they go into a sharps container right away.
- Universal precautions always apply to blood, serum, and vitreous fluid, among others.
- They apply to tears, saliva, and sweat only when blood is visible in them.
- Barriers to know: gloves, masks, goggles, gowns.
- OSHA is the agency that makes universal precautions the law in U.S. offices.
References
- American Academy of Ophthalmology. Ophthalmic Medical Assisting: An Independent Study Course. Chapter 7, Microorganisms and Infection Control.
