Which of the following is included in standard precautions?

• A. Hand hygiene, PPE as needed, safe injection practices
• B. Isolation for all patients
• C. Gloves only for all procedures
• D. Sterilization of all instruments for every encounter

Answer: (A)

Standard precautions are the baseline practices used with every patient to reduce the spread of infection. The key components are hand hygiene, PPE as needed based on the anticipated exposure, and safe injection practices. Hand hygiene stops pathogens from moving from one person to another, PPE protects you from contact with blood, body fluids, and contaminated surfaces, and safe injection practices prevent transmission through injections. Isolation for all patients isn’t part of standard precautions; it’s used only when a patient has a known or suspected contagious condition that requires extra measures. Gloves are important, but wearing them alone for all procedures ignores the need for other PPE and proper hand hygiene. Sterilization of all instruments for every encounter isn’t a blanket standard precaution; sterilization is specific to the type of instrument and procedure, and many items are single-use or properly processed according to procedure and setting.