What is the purpose of standard precautions in infection control?

• A. To prevent transmission of infectious agents by using hand hygiene, PPE, safe injection practices, and cleaning/disinfecting.
• B. To organize resident files.
• C. To track staff attendance.
• D. To ensure residents receive medications on time.

Answer: (A)

Standard precautions are a baseline approach to preventing the spread of infection in healthcare settings. The idea is that any resident could have an infection, so practices are applied to all care to block transmission. Hand hygiene is the most effective defense, performed before and after touching residents or their surroundings. Personal protective equipment is used based on the exposure risk, with gloves for contact with body fluids, gowns for potential contamination of clothing, and masks or eye protection when splashes or aerosols are possible. Safe injection practices prevent contamination and needlestick injuries, and cleaning and disinfecting surfaces and equipment remove infectious agents from the care environment. Together these measures create a consistent, multi-layered shield against transmission for everyone involved in care. Tasks like organizing files, tracking attendance, or ensuring medications are given on time are important duties but don’t address infection control across all care activities the way standard precautions do.