This is a typical NCLEX practice “drag and drop” question about sequencing nursing actions.
This question is one of the many questions we will be practicing in our new series called “Weekly NCLEX Question”.
So, every week be sure to tune into our YouTube Channel for the NCLEX Question of the Week.
More NCLEX Weekly Practice Questions.
NCLEX Drag and Drop Practice Question
A patient, who is receiving treatment for Varicella, asks for assistance to the bathroom. Before entering the room, you must don personal protective equipment. Organize the correct sequence in how you will don personal protective equipment:
____ Don Gloves
____ Don Gown
____ Perform hand hygiene
____ Don N95 Mask (respirator)
For this particular NCLEX-style question, we must organize the options above in the CORRECT order for how we will don personal protective equipment (PPE). Tip: Don’t get the terms don and doff confused. Don means to “put on” and doff means to “take off”.
Let’s analyze the scenario: This patient has Varicella (also called Chickenpox) and needs to use the bathroom. This is where you should ask yourself, “what type of PPE is required for this disease, Varicella?”
Answer: This patient will be in contact and airborne precautions, which will include gown, gloves, and an N95 respirator mask. So, this is what you will need to wear at ALL TIMES. Tip: Need a clever way to remember which diseases are included in contact, airborne, and droplet? Check out these isolation precaution mnemonics.
Now, let’s put our options in order: What do we ALWAYS do before and after patient contact? HAND HYIGENE. So, the FIRST thing we will do is “perform hand hygiene”.
1 Perform hand hygiene
Don Gloves
Don Gown
Don N95 Mask (respirator)
What action is step 2? This is the tricky part….is it gloves, gown, or respirator?
The best way I remember the sequence for donning PPE is to truly understand the “WHY” for why we don the PPE in a specific order.
For example, when DOFFING PPE (taking it off), it is vital to remove the most contaminated article FIRST, which are the gloves. Therefore, when DONNING PPE, gloves are the LAST article that will be put on. So, “don gloves” is the very last step.
1 Perform hand hygiene
Don N95 Mask (respirator)
Don Gown
4 Don Gloves
Now, all you have to do is to decide if “don gown” or “don N95 mask (respirator)” is the next step!
So, let’s analyze how you don each article. Gowns are bulky and require that you put them over your head and tie them. Therefore, it makes most sense that you would don the gown BEFORE the respirator.
WHY? Because donning a respirator takes special care…you must don it correctly and perform a seal check. You wouldn’t want to have your respirator on and then have to twist/bend and put a gown over your head with a mask on. There is a risk of disrupting your mask placement. So, you will don the respirator AFTER donning the gown and then proceed with donning gloves.
Answer: The correct out should look like this:
1 Perform hand hygiene
2 Don Gown
3 Don N95 Mask (respirator)
4 Don Gloves
Don’t forget to tune in next week for the next NCLEX question of the week. While you wait, be sure to check out our free NCLEX practice quizzes and NCLEX review lectures.