Chapter 12 (78 cards)

Yes! 💗 Since you’re trying to cover Chapters 9–20 quickly, I’d cut Chapter 12 down to about 70 cards and keep only the things most likely to matter for a CNA exam: definitions, infection-control methods, hand hygiene, PPE, standard precautions, and transmission-based precautions.

Chapter 12 — Main Important Flashcards

1. What does “endemic” mean?
→ Always present in a population.

2. What does “epidemic” mean?
→ Disease affecting many people in a specific population.

3. What does “pandemic” mean?
→ An epidemic affecting populations worldwide.

4. What is a health care–associated infection (HAI)?
→ An infection acquired in a health care setting.

5. What is another name for patient-acquired HAIs?
→ Nosocomial infections.

6. What is the most common HAI transmission method?
→ Health care workers’ hands.

7. What is infection control?
→ Practices designed to decrease infection transmission.

8. What are the four major infection-control methods?
→ Medical asepsis, surgical asepsis, barriers, isolation.

9. What is medical asepsis?
→ Physically removing or killing pathogens.

10. What are the four techniques of medical asepsis?
→ Sanitization, antisepsis, disinfection, sterilization.

11. What is sanitization?
→ Basic cleanliness that physically removes pathogens.

12. What is antisepsis?
→ Killing microbes or stopping their growth.

13. What is disinfection?
→ Using chemicals to kill pathogens.

14. Why aren’t disinfectants used on skin?
→ They are too strong.

15. What is sterilization?
→ The most thorough method of killing microbes.

16. What items require sterilization?
→ Objects that must be completely microbe-free.

17. What machine uses pressurized steam to sterilize?
→ An autoclave.

18. Is boiling an effective sterilization method?
→ No.

19. What must happen before disinfection or sterilization?
→ The object must be cleaned first.

20. Why must objects be cleaned first?
→ Organic material can prevent disinfectants from working.

21. What is the most frequently used medical asepsis technique?
→ Hand hygiene.

22. What is the most important infection-control method?
→ Proper, consistent hand hygiene.

23. What is transient flora?
→ Microbes picked up from people or objects.

24. Where does transient flora live?
→ On the skin’s surface.

25. Why is transient flora important?
→ It can transmit infections between people.

26. When should hand hygiene be performed between patients?
→ Before moving between patients.

27. When must you wash instead of using hand rub?
→ When hands are visibly soiled.

28. When must you wash after body-fluid contact?
→ Immediately after contact.

29. When should you wash when caring for C. diff?
→ Instead of using alcohol hand rub.

30. When should you perform hand hygiene around patients?
→ Before and after patient contact.

31. What should you do after using the bathroom?
→ Wash your hands.

32. Why should fingernails be kept short?
→ Long nails trap microbes.

33. What should you do if frequent washing dries your skin?
→ Apply lotion or hand cream.

34. When can alcohol-based hand rub be used?
→ When hands aren’t visibly soiled.

35. How should alcohol-based hand rub be used?
→ Rub over hands until completely dry.

36. What is surgical asepsis?
→ Asepsis used for procedures entering the body.

37. What must instruments be during surgical asepsis?
→ Completely sterile.

38. What is a barrier method?
→ An object preventing microbes from reaching skin.

39. What are examples of PPE barriers?
→ Gloves, gowns, masks, respirators, eyewear.

40. When should gloves be worn?
→ When body-fluid contact is possible.

41. When should gloves be worn during perineal care?
→ Always.

42. What should you do if gloves become contaminated?
→ Remove them before touching surfaces.

43. What should you do between glove changes?
→ Perform hand hygiene.

44. What must you always do after removing gloves?
→ Wash your hands.

45. What should latex-sensitive people use?
→ Nonlatex gloves.

46. When should a gown be worn?
→ When your uniform could become soiled.

47. When should a mask be worn?
→ When airborne or droplet exposure is possible.

48. What type of mask is required for TB?
→ A high-filtration respirator.

49. What should happen if a mask becomes wet?
→ Discard and replace it.

50. What does protective eyewear protect?
→ Eyes from infectious splashes.

51. What is the correct PPE putting-on sequence?
→ Gown, mask, eyewear, gloves.

52. What is the correct PPE removal sequence?
→ Gloves, eyewear, gown, mask.

53. Why is PPE removed in the correct sequence?
→ To prevent contamination.

54. What are isolation precautions?
→ Guidelines based on pathogen transmission.

55. What are standard precautions used with?
→ Every patient or resident.

56. What do standard precautions protect against?
→ Blood and body-substance pathogens.

57. What are transmission-based precautions?
→ Precautions added to standard precautions.

58. What are the three transmission-based precautions?
→ Airborne, droplet, and contact.

59. When are airborne precautions used?
→ When pathogens remain infectious in air.

60. What room is used for airborne precautions?
→ An airborne infection isolation room (AIIR).

61. What respiratory protection is used for airborne precautions?
→ A high-filtration respirator.

62. What diseases require airborne precautions?
→ TB, COVID-19, chickenpox, and measles.

63. When are droplet precautions used?
→ When pathogens spread through respiratory droplets.

64. What mask is used for droplet precautions?
→ A regular mask.

65. When are contact precautions used?
→ When pathogens spread through direct or indirect contact.

66. What PPE is required for contact precautions?
→ Gown and gloves.

67. What are the three newer standard-precaution elements?
→ Respiratory hygiene, safe injections, lumbar punctures.

68. What should someone with a cough do?
→ Cover their mouth and nose.

69. What is required for safe injections?
→ New sterile syringe and needle each time.

70. What should be worn during lumbar puncture assistance?
→ A surgical mask.

71. What should be used to clean blood spills?
→ Approved cleaner or 1:10 bleach solution.

72. What should never be used on blood-contaminated hands?
→ Alcohol-based hand rub.

73. Where should used sharps be discarded?
→ Labeled, OSHA-approved containers.

74. How should contaminated broken glass be handled?
→ Sweep or vacuum it up.

75. What is the CNA’s infection-control responsibility?
→ Protect patients, yourself, and others.

76. What makes infection-control techniques effective?
→ Proper and consistent performance.

77. Why should CNAs remember the person behind precautions?
→ Isolation can make patients feel lonely.

78. How can you support isolated patients emotionally?
→ Check frequently and take time to talk.

⭐ If you’re really short on time

If you need to speed-run Chapter 12, I’d prioritize #8–10, #15, #21–30, #34–35, #40–52, and #55–73. Those are the sections I’d be most reluctant to skip because they cover the chapter’s core infection-control procedures and precautions.

78 cards total — so this fits your 70–80 card rule and is much more manageable than the original 100.