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NCLEX Infection Control: 3 Free Practice Questions

Try three NCLEX-style infection-control questions with every option explained in English or Taglish. No account needed; complete worked answers included.

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Try three infection-safety questions

Choose an answer, check your reasoning, then compare every option. No account is needed. Your choices last only while this page is open.

Questions and explanations follow your English or Taglish setting. This shared article is in English.

Question 1 of 3

Moving from soiled to clean care

During routine care, the nurse finishes perineal care for an adult client and is about to provide oral care for the same client. The gloves are intact but soiled. Which action is appropriate before oral care?

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1. Moving from soiled to clean care

During routine care, the nurse finishes perineal care for an adult client and is about to provide oral care for the same client. The gloves are intact but soiled. Which action is appropriate before oral care?

Best answer: C

  • A. Keep the same gloves because both tasks are for the same client. The next task involves a cleaner body site. Staying with the same client does not make soiled gloves appropriate.
  • B. Clean the outside of the gloves with hand sanitizer and continue. Cleaning the outside of soiled gloves does not meet the indicated glove change and hand hygiene before oral care.
  • C. Remove the gloves, perform hand hygiene, and put on a new pair for oral care. Remove the soiled gloves and clean the hands before donning new gloves for contact with the mouth.
  • D. Put a second pair of gloves over the soiled pair and continue. Covering soiled gloves does not replace their removal and the indicated hand hygiene.

Decisive cue: The task changes from perineal care to oral care; the gloves are soiled.

Gloves do not replace hand hygiene. Reassess glove use when the task or body site changes.

CDC: hand hygiene for healthcare workers · 2026-10-08

2. Acting on suspected airborne infection

An adult admitted to an acute-care hospital is being evaluated for suspected infectious pulmonary tuberculosis. The client is stable and diagnostic results are pending. An airborne infection isolation room is available. Which plan is appropriate now?

Best answer: B

  • A. Keep the client in a shared room until a test confirms tuberculosis. Waiting for confirmation leaves an avoidable exposure risk when infectious pulmonary TB is suspected.
  • B. Use the airborne infection isolation room and a fit-tested N95 or higher-level respirator for staff entering, alongside Standard Precautions. Suspected infectious pulmonary TB warrants Airborne Precautions before confirmation. Use the available isolation room and appropriate staff respiratory protection.
  • C. Use a private room with the door open and a surgical mask as the only respiratory protection for staff. A private room alone is not an airborne isolation room. A surgical mask does not replace a staff respirator for this exposure.
  • D. Use Contact Precautions alone because the client is stable. Clinical stability does not determine the transmission route. Contact Precautions alone do not address airborne TB.

Decisive cue: Infectious pulmonary TB is suspected, and an airborne infection isolation room is available.

Match precautions to the suspected transmission route; do not wait for a confirmatory result.

CDC: isolation precautions summary recommendations · 2026-10-08

3. Protecting others while tests are pending

An adult in an acute-care hospital develops new, unexplained watery diarrhea after recent antibiotic use. The team suspects C. difficile infection and is evaluating the cause. A single-patient room with a dedicated toilet is available. Which plan best limits spread now?

Best answer: A

  • A. Start Contact Precautions under the facility protocol, use the single-patient room and dedicated toilet, and dedicate patient-care equipment. Act on suspected infection during evaluation. The available room, toilet and dedicated equipment support Contact Precautions.
  • B. Wait for a positive C. difficile test before changing room placement or precautions. A pending test does not justify delaying precautions for suspected CDI with clinically significant unexplained diarrhea.
  • C. Use Airborne Precautions as the only additional precaution. Airborne Precautions do not replace the contact measures needed for suspected CDI.
  • D. Use a shared toilet and share equipment without cleaning while results are pending. Shared toilets and uncleaned equipment create opportunities for spread; pending results do not remove that risk.

Decisive cue: There is new unexplained diarrhea, suspected CDI, and an appropriate room is available.

Precautions can begin during evaluation. This scenario does not establish the diagnosis or prescribe treatment.

CDC: C. diff infection prevention in acute care facilities · 2026-10-08

Original educational examples, not official NCLEX items or clinical care protocols. Sources were checked with automated review; credentialed clinician sign-off is not claimed.

This shared guide is in English. The practice questions and explanations above follow your selected language.

Infection-safety decisions depend on the task, the suspected transmission route and what is known now. Try the three questions above, then compare every option. No account is required. Your choices stay on this page and reset on refresh.

Questions and explanations follow your English or Taglish setting. This shared article is in English. Open Read all worked answers for the complete set, including without JavaScript.

By SteadyRN. These are original educational examples, not official NCLEX items or clinical care protocols. Sources were checked through automated review; credentialed clinician sign-off is not claimed. See our editorial methodology.

What these questions teach

1. Notice when the task changes

The first example moves from perineal care to oral care. Ask yourself what changed between those tasks, even though the client stayed the same. The CDC hand-hygiene guidance addresses glove changes and hand hygiene when moving from a soiled body site to a clean one. Review the explanation for every option before moving on.

2. Separate suspicion from confirmation

The TB example deliberately gives you a stable client, pending results and an available airborne infection isolation room. Those details let you compare a plan that acts now with one that waits. The CDC isolation recommendations cover airborne room placement and staff respiratory protection. The CDC TB infection-control overview explains the roles of administrative, environmental and respiratory controls.

3. Protect others during evaluation

The C. difficile example is about immediate precautions in an acute-care hospital, not selecting a diagnostic test or treatment. The CDC acute-care CDI guidance describes isolation during evaluation and dedicated patient-care equipment. Compare what each option leaves unaddressed.

Build a reasoning note

After each example, write down:

  • The cue I used: the task change, suspected route or pending evaluation.
  • The weaker option I considered: what exposure or delay it left unresolved.
  • What I would verify in practice: the facility protocol, room requirements or appropriate protective equipment.

Standard Precautions apply to all patient care; Transmission-Based Precautions add measures for particular risks. The CDC precautions overview explains this framework. These three examples do not cover every pathogen or estimate exam readiness. Follow current facility policy and infection-prevention guidance in clinical work.

Keep practicing

Use the topic links below for more no-account examples. The separate account bank offers 30 free questions in English and Taglish and requires a free account. The readiness check is a broader study-planning tool, not a pass guarantee.

Sources checked 8 October 2026: the five CDC pages linked above, including glove-change/hand-hygiene indications, suspected airborne infection and respiratory protection, acute-care CDI isolation during evaluation, and the Standard/Transmission-Based Precautions framework. Report a correction.

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