👤 By the CinnaRN Clinical Content Team🕐 Updated 2026-08-23🏷️ Safety & Infection Control🔖 Free to read, print, and share
Also known as: isolation precautions · infection precautions · contact droplet airborne precautions · PPE precautions · universal precautions
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Use this quick-reference guide to spot, treat, and prevent Standard and Transmission-Based Precautions on the NCLEX. Keep it handy during review and on exam day!
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📒 The 1-minute cheat sheet
📌 Standard
All patients: gloves, hand hygiene
PPE if contact w/ body fluids
📌 Contact
Gown + gloves: C.diff, MRSA, VRE
📌 Droplet
Mask: flu, pertussis, meningitis
Private room, 3-6 ft spacing
📌 Airborne
N95 + negative-pressure room
My Chicken Hez TB: measles, TB, varicella
📚 Standard and Transmission-Based Precautions — full study notes
The cheat sheet above is your quick recall card. These notes go deeper — what it is, what to do first, what must be reported, and what to teach.
Standard precautions are used for EVERY patient regardless of diagnosis and treat all blood and body fluids as potentially infectious. Transmission-based precautions are added on top of standard precautions when a specific organism's spread route is known: contact, droplet, or airborne. Correct precautions and PPE protect the patient, staff, and other patients, and are a constant NCLEX safety theme. Remember the airborne mnemonic My Chicken Hez TB: Measles, Chickenpox (varicella), Herpes zoster disseminated, TB.
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Key points
Understand these first
Standard precautions include hand hygiene, gloves when contacting body fluids, and gown/mask/eye protection when splash is likely, for all patients.
Contact precautions (gown and gloves, private room or cohort) apply to C. difficile, MRSA, VRE, RSV, scabies, and draining wounds.
Droplet precautions (surgical mask within ~3-6 feet, private room) apply to influenza, pertussis, meningococcal meningitis, mumps, and rubella.
Airborne precautions (N95 respirator and negative-pressure room) apply to tuberculosis, measles, and varicella/disseminated zoster.
C. difficile and other spore formers require soap-and-water handwashing because alcohol-based gel does not kill spores.
PPE is removed in the order gloves, goggles/face shield, gown, then mask/respirator, with hand hygiene after; gown and gloves go on after the respirator when donning.
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Nursing priorities
What to do, in order
Perform hand hygiene before and after every patient contact and after removing gloves.
Apply the correct precaution type for the organism and post signage so all staff comply.
Place airborne-precaution patients in a negative-pressure room and don an N95 (fit-tested) before entry.
Don and doff PPE in the correct sequence to avoid self-contamination.
Cohort or use a private room when a private room is unavailable, and dedicate equipment to that patient.
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Red flags — report now
Escalate immediately
Never use alcohol-based hand rub alone for C. difficile or other spore-forming organisms; wash with soap and water.
Never enter an airborne-isolation room without a fit-tested N95 or higher respirator.
A breach in PPE or a needlestick exposure must be reported and followed up immediately.
Do not transport an isolation patient without proper masking and notifying the receiving area.
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Patient teaching
What patients must know
Family and visitors must perform hand hygiene and wear the same required PPE before entering the room.
Cover coughs, dispose of tissues promptly, and limit movement out of the room while on precautions.
Precautions protect you and others and are not a punishment; they end when the infection risk resolves.
❓ Standard and Transmission-Based Precautions: NCLEX FAQs
What are the priority nursing interventions for Standard and Transmission-Based Precautions?
Perform hand hygiene before and after every patient contact and after removing gloves. Apply the correct precaution type for the organism and post signage so all staff comply. Place airborne-precaution patients in a negative-pressure room and don an N95 (fit-tested) before entry. Don and doff PPE in the correct sequence to avoid self-contamination.
What are the warning signs of Standard and Transmission-Based Precautions a nurse must report?
Never use alcohol-based hand rub alone for C. difficile or other spore-forming organisms; wash with soap and water. Never enter an airborne-isolation room without a fit-tested N95 or higher respirator. A breach in PPE or a needlestick exposure must be reported and followed up immediately. Do not transport an isolation patient without proper masking and notifying the receiving area.
What do I need to know about Standard and Transmission-Based Precautions for the NCLEX?
Standard precautions include hand hygiene, gloves when contacting body fluids, and gown/mask/eye protection when splash is likely, for all patients. Contact precautions (gown and gloves, private room or cohort) apply to C. difficile, MRSA, VRE, RSV, scabies, and draining wounds. Droplet precautions (surgical mask within ~3-6 feet, private room) apply to influenza, pertussis, meningococcal meningitis, mumps, and rubella. Airborne precautions (N95 respirator and negative-pressure room) apply to tuberculosis, measles, and varicella/disseminated zoster.
What patient teaching is important for Standard and Transmission-Based Precautions?
Family and visitors must perform hand hygiene and wear the same required PPE before entering the room. Cover coughs, dispose of tissues promptly, and limit movement out of the room while on precautions. Precautions protect you and others and are not a punishment; they end when the infection risk resolves.
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Quick Tip
Standard precautions include hand hygiene, gloves when contacting body fluids, and gown/mask/eye protection when splash is likely, for all patients.