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Soap and water versus alcohol-based hand rub

  • NCLEX-RN
  • Safety and Infection Control
  • Select all that apply
  • Difficulty 3 of 5

Question

A nurse is reviewing when soap and water must be used instead of an alcohol-based hand rub. In which situations should the nurse wash with soap and water? Select all that apply.

  1. The nurse's hands are visibly soiled with a client's wound drainage.✓ Correct

    Correct. Visibly soiled hands are washed with soap and water.

  2. The nurse is about to eat lunch in the unit break room.✓ Correct

    Correct. Hands are washed with soap and water before eating.

  3. The nurse is leaving the room of a client with C. diff infection during an outbreak on the unit.✓ Correct

    Correct. During C. diff outbreaks, soap and water is used after caring for clients with known or suspected infection.

  4. The nurse is about to take a client's blood pressure, and the nurse's hands are not visibly soiled.✗ Incorrect

    Incorrect. When hands are not visibly soiled, alcohol-based hand rub is preferred for this moment of hand hygiene.

  5. The nurse has just touched a client's bedside table, and the nurse's hands are not visibly soiled.✗ Incorrect

    Incorrect. Alcohol-based hand rub is appropriate after touching a client's surroundings when the hands are not visibly soiled.

  6. The nurse is about to prepare an intravenous medication, and the nurse's hands are not visibly soiled.✗ Incorrect

    Incorrect. Alcohol-based hand rub is appropriate before an aseptic task when the hands are not visibly soiled.

Answer

A. The nurse's hands are visibly soiled with a client's wound drainage. · B. The nurse is about to eat lunch in the unit break room. · C. The nurse is leaving the room of a client with C. diff infection during an outbreak on the unit.

Rationale

Alcohol-based hand rub is the usual choice for hand hygiene in clinical care, with a few exceptions that call for washing. The nurse uses soap and water when the hands look soiled, ahead of a meal, following a restroom visit, and when caring for clients with C. difficile or norovirus infection during outbreaks. At the other care moments hand hygiene is still required, and the rub is the appropriate product.

RememberRub if hands look clean; wash if soiled, before eating, after the restroom, or in C. diff outbreaks.

Sources

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