Editing Infection Control and Safety – RN Practice Questions (section)

==Question 1==
A client is admitted to the emergency department with a six-week history of productive cough, hemoptysis, night sweats, and a 15-pound unintentional weight loss. Which action should the nurse take '''first'''?
# Obtain three sputum specimens for acid-fast bacilli.
# Place the client in an airborne infection isolation room and apply a fit-tested N95 respirator before entering.
# Notify the local health department of a suspected reportable disease.
# Administer the first dose of the ordered four-drug antituberculosis regimen.

'''Answer:''' 2. Place the client in an airborne infection isolation room and apply a fit-tested N95 respirator before entering.

''Rationale:'' Transmission-based precautions are initiated on clinical suspicion, before diagnostic confirmation, so containment comes first. Options 1, 3, and 4 are all appropriate later actions, but collecting sputum, reporting, and treating all occur after the client and staff are protected. Reporting requires a confirmed or presumed diagnosis and follows containment, and antituberculosis therapy is not started before specimens are collected.