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Nursing Council of Kenya Licensure Examination Infection Prevention and Control: practice questions

Nursing Council of Kenya Licensure Examination · Kenya · Nursing Council of Kenya (NCK)

Original practice questions written to the published syllabus · not past papers
10worked here, free
90written to this exam in this subject
14syllabus units

What this subject covers

The habits that decide who leaves the ward alive

In the exams: NORCET: Mains — nursing practice, case-scenario based (100 questions); NCLEX-RN: Safe and Effective Care Environment (17–33%); NMC Test of Competence — CBT: Part B — Clinical (100 marks, 68% to pass); NMC Test of Competence — OSCE: Clinical skills stations (Remaining stations); NMCN Professional Examination: Foundations and fundamentals of nursing (Core paper); Nursing Council of Kenya Licensure Examination: Fundamentals and clinical skills (Core); Saudi Nursing Licensure Examination: Safe and effective care (Core); NMBA Outcomes-Based Assessment: Safe and effective practice (Both stages)

Where the 90 questions fall

How our questions for Nursing Council of Kenya Licensure Examination spread across the units of Infection Prevention and Control. Difficulty: 20 easy, 55 medium, 15 hard.

End-of-manual check12
Transmission-Based Precautions8
Hand Hygiene, Properly Understood7
Personal Protective Equipment7
Device-Associated Infection7
The Chain of Infection6
Standard Precautions6
Aseptic Technique6
The Environment and Equipment6
Antimicrobial Stewardship as Nursing Work6
Outbreaks, Surveillance and Speaking Up6
Protecting Yourself5
Why This Subject Is Different4
Carrying This Into a Real Ward4

10 practice questions, worked

Choose an answer, then open the working. Each explanation says why the right answer is right and why the others are not.

1 · End-of-manual check · medium

Which is removed last when taking off personal protective equipment, and why?

  1. The gloves, because they touch the patient
  2. The gown, because it covers everything else and protects the clothes
  3. The eye protection, because it is rigid
  4. The mask or respirator, as its front is the most contaminated
Answer and working

D. The mask or respirator, as its front is the most contaminated

Removal runs from most to least contaminated while keeping hands away from dirty outer surfaces, so gloves come off first and the mask last, handled only by its straps. The front of a mask is the dirtiest surface in the ensemble and it sits inches from the face, which is why touching it during removal is the error examiners watch for.

Further reading: SUNYRA nursing manual: Infection Prevention and Control

2 · End-of-manual check · medium

Why is a prevention bundle audited as all-or-nothing?

  1. Auditors prefer simple measures
  2. Each element is equally difficult to deliver
  3. The evidence supports the elements delivered together, not separately
  4. Partial delivery cannot be recorded accurately in the audit software used
Answer and working

C. The evidence supports the elements delivered together, not separately

Bundles were studied and shown to work as complete sets, so compliance means every element for every patient. Delivering four of five elements does not produce four-fifths of the benefit, because the omitted element is frequently the route the infection actually takes.

Further reading: SUNYRA nursing manual: Infection Prevention and Control

3 · Why This Subject Is Different · medium

Why is infection prevention weighted heavily in licensing examinations?

  1. It is the easiest subject for examiners to write questions about each year
  2. It is one of the commonest harms in healthcare
  3. It is the only subject that is identical in every country's examination
  4. It is examined only because it is cheap to test with written papers
Answer and working

B. It is one of the commonest harms in healthcare

Healthcare-associated infection is among the most frequent harms anywhere; examinations reflect its importance.

Further reading: Laisha original question, written to the SUNYRA nursing manual: Infection Prevention and Control

4 · Why This Subject Is Different · hard

Which approach makes infection prevention habits most reliable?

  1. Relying on each nurse remembering every step on every shift
  2. Reminding staff of the rules at the end of each annual appraisal
  3. Building them into routines and the environment
  4. Leaving each nurse to decide which steps matter for each patient
Answer and working

C. Building them into routines and the environment

Habits that depend on memory fail when memory is scarce; placing hand rub at the point of care and building steps into routines makes them survive pressure.

Further reading: Laisha original question, written to the SUNYRA nursing manual: Infection Prevention and Control

5 · Hand Hygiene, Properly Understood · medium

Why are rings and wristwatches removed for clinical work?

  1. They hold organisms and prevent proper decontamination
  2. They scratch patients during every procedure
  3. They interfere with electronic monitoring equipment on most hospital wards
  4. They are against uniform rules for appearance only
Answer and working

A. They hold organisms and prevent proper decontamination

Jewellery, artificial nails and long sleeves harbour organisms and block effective hand hygiene.

Further reading: Laisha original question, written to the SUNYRA nursing manual: Infection Prevention and Control

6 · Standard Precautions · medium

What is the key competency within standard precautions?

  1. Memorising the full list of precautions word for word
  2. Wearing every item of equipment for every task
  3. Assessing the risk of each task before starting
  4. Leaving risk judgement to the infection team
Answer and working

C. Assessing the risk of each task before starting

The list hides the real skill: predicting what this task will expose you to and protecting against it.

Further reading: Laisha original question, written to the SUNYRA nursing manual: Infection Prevention and Control

7 · Personal Protective Equipment · easy

What is the most useful principle in choosing protective equipment?

  1. Choose by the patient's age and gender
  2. Choose the cheapest items available
  3. Choose by exposure, not by diagnosis
  4. Choose whatever colleagues are wearing
Answer and working

C. Choose by exposure, not by diagnosis

The task's expected exposure determines what is worn.

Further reading: Laisha original question, written to the SUNYRA nursing manual: Infection Prevention and Control

8 · Personal Protective Equipment · easy

Which item is removed first when taking off protective equipment?

  1. Mask
  2. Gloves
  3. Eye protection
  4. Respirator
Answer and working

B. Gloves

Gloves are the most contaminated and come off first; the mask or respirator comes last, handled by its straps.

Further reading: Laisha original question, written to the SUNYRA nursing manual: Infection Prevention and Control

9 · Hand Hygiene, Properly Understood · medium

A nurse has just emptied a catheter bag. Which hand hygiene moment applies?

  1. Before touching a patient, because the next task involves contact
  2. Before a clean procedure, because the bag is a closed system
  3. After body fluid exposure risk
  4. None, provided gloves were worn throughout the task
Answer and working

C. After body fluid exposure risk

Emptying a bag carries body fluid exposure risk; hand hygiene follows, whether or not gloves were worn.

Further reading: Laisha original question, written to the SUNYRA nursing manual: Infection Prevention and Control

10 · Aseptic Technique · medium

What does disinfection achieve that cleaning does not?

  1. It removes visible soil from surfaces
  2. It destroys all spores reliably
  3. It kills most remaining organisms
  4. It makes equipment safe to use inside sterile body sites
Answer and working

C. It kills most remaining organisms

Disinfection reduces organisms to a safe level but does not reliably kill spores; sterilisation does.

Further reading: Laisha original question, written to the SUNYRA nursing manual: Infection Prevention and Control

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Read the subject

Infection Prevention and ControlThe full study manual, free Nursing Council of Kenya Licensure ExaminationFormat, sections and how it has changed

More Nursing Council of Kenya Licensure Examination practice

Clinical Skills and ProceduresHealth Assessment and Physical ExaminationNursing Foundations IMicrobiology and InfectionNursing Foundations IIPharmacologyMedication Administration and SafetyFirst Aid and Basic Life Support

Infection Prevention and Control for other exams

NMBA Outcomes-Based Assessment · AustraliaNORCET · IndiaNCLEX-RN · United States / Canada / AustraliaNMCN Professional Examination · NigeriaNMC Test of Competence · United KingdomNMC Test of Competence · United KingdomSaudi Nursing Licensure Examination · Saudi Arabia

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