Infection Control Questions for the Prometric Exam 2026: 15 MCQs with Answers for Nurses, Doctors, Allied Health and Dental Staff on Hand Hygiene, Precautions, Sterilisation, Sharps and Outbreaks

Infection prevention and control is the one domain that appears on every Prometric paper, from the assistant nurse to the consultant: typically five to ten questions, all of them learnable. Gulf authorities audit infection control relentlessly, which is why the exams test it, and why MERS-CoV, TB in migrant workers and multidrug-resistant organisms feature. This set covers what recurs.

Hand hygiene and standard precautions

Question 1

The WHO "five moments" for hand hygiene are:

1. On arrival, at break, after lunch, before leaving and at home
2. Before touching a patient, before a clean or aseptic procedure, after body fluid exposure risk, after touching a patient, and after touching patient surroundings
3. Only before and after gloves
4. Once per shift

Answer: B. Gloves do not replace hand hygiene; hands are cleaned before putting gloves on and after removing them.

Question 2

Alcohol-based hand rub is not sufficient, and soap and water must be used, when:

1. Hands are visibly soiled, after caring for a patient with Clostridioides difficile or norovirus, and after using the toilet
2. Before every patient contact
3. After touching the bed rail
4. Never; alcohol rub is always sufficient

Answer: A. Alcohol does not kill C. difficile spores or reliably inactivate norovirus; mechanical washing removes them.

Question 3

The correct sequence for putting on PPE for a patient on airborne and contact precautions is:

1. Gloves, gown, mask, eye protection
2. Gown, N95 respirator (with fit check), eye protection, gloves; removal is gloves, gown, hand hygiene, eye protection, respirator, hand hygiene
3. Mask, gloves, gown, goggles
4. Any order

Answer: B. The respirator is removed last, outside the room, because the air is the hazard. Removal order prevents self-contamination.

Transmission-based precautions

Question 4

A patient with suspected pulmonary tuberculosis should be placed in:

1. A standard shared bay
2. An airborne infection isolation room with negative pressure, at least 6 to 12 air changes per hour, door closed, with staff wearing fit-tested N95 respirators
3. A room with the window open
4. Contact precautions only

Answer: B. Airborne precautions apply to TB, measles, varicella and disseminated zoster. Surgical masks protect others from the patient but do not protect staff from airborne particles.

Question 5

A patient presents with fever and pneumonia 10 days after returning from camel contact in the region. Besides standard precautions, which precautions apply?

1. None until confirmed
2. Airborne precautions in a negative-pressure room plus contact and eye protection for suspected MERS-CoV, with immediate notification to infection control and public health
3. Droplet precautions only
4. Contact precautions only

Answer: B. MERS-CoV remains endemic in the Arabian Peninsula and has caused hospital outbreaks. Suspected cases are isolated on arrival, and aerosol-generating procedures need full airborne protection.

Question 6

A patient is colonised with carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales (CRE). The required precautions are:

1. No special measures, since colonisation is not infection
2. Contact precautions in a single room or cohort, gown and gloves for all contact, dedicated equipment, enhanced cleaning, and flagging the record for future admissions
3. Airborne precautions
4. Antibiotics to clear colonisation

Answer: B. Multidrug-resistant organisms (MRSA, VRE, ESBL, CRE) are managed with contact precautions; screening on admission is standard in many Gulf hospitals because of regional prevalence.

Question 7

Droplet precautions, with a surgical mask within about one metre of the patient, are indicated for:

1. Tuberculosis
2. Influenza, pertussis, meningococcal disease (for the first 24 hours of treatment), mumps and rubella
3. MRSA wound colonisation
4. Hepatitis B

Answer: B. Droplets travel short distances and do not need negative pressure. Hepatitis B is blood-borne and needs standard precautions only.

Sharps, exposures and vaccination

Question 8

A nurse sustains a needle-stick injury from a patient with known HIV. The immediate actions are:

1. Squeeze the wound hard and continue working
2. Wash the site with soap and running water without scrubbing, report immediately, obtain source and recipient baseline bloods with consent, and start HIV post-exposure prophylaxis ideally within 2 hours and no later than 72 hours
3. Apply bleach to the wound
4. Wait for the end of the shift to report

Answer: B. Risk is reduced by prompt PEP. Hepatitis B status of the recipient and source determines immunoglobulin and vaccine; hepatitis C has no PEP but needs follow-up testing.

Question 9

Which practice most reduces sharps injuries?

1. Recapping needles carefully with two hands
2. Never recapping, using safety-engineered devices, and disposing of sharps at the point of use into a rigid container filled no more than three-quarters
3. Carrying used needles to the nurses' station
4. Passing sharps hand to hand in theatre

Answer: B. Recapping and overfilled containers are the commonest causes of injury; theatres use a neutral zone for passing sharps.

Question 10

Which vaccination is required of healthcare workers by Gulf authorities before licensing or employment?

1. None
2. Hepatitis B with documented immunity, plus commonly MMR, varicella, seasonal influenza and, where required, meningococcal vaccination for Hajj-season duties
3. Only tetanus
4. Only BCG

Answer: B. Hepatitis B immunity is checked by anti-HBs titre; non-responders are managed per protocol. Pre-employment medicals also screen for TB and blood-borne viruses.

Sterilisation, disinfection and device bundles

Question 11

According to the Spaulding classification, a flexible endoscope that contacts intact mucous membranes is a semi-critical item and requires at minimum:

1. Low-level disinfection
2. High-level disinfection after thorough cleaning, or sterilisation where feasible
3. Wiping with alcohol
4. No reprocessing between patients

Answer: B. Critical items entering sterile tissue need sterilisation; semi-critical items need at least high-level disinfection; non-critical items touching intact skin need low-level disinfection.

Question 12

Which practice is part of the bundle to prevent catheter-associated urinary tract infection?

1. Routine catheter changes every 48 hours
2. Inserting only for a valid indication, aseptic technique, a closed drainage system kept below bladder level, securing the catheter, daily review and removal as soon as possible
3. Prophylactic antibiotics for every catheter
4. Irrigating daily with antiseptic

Answer: B. Every catheter day adds infection risk; the single most effective measure is prompt removal.

Question 13

For central line insertion, the bundle that reduces bloodstream infection includes:

1. A clean, non-sterile technique
2. Hand hygiene, maximal sterile barriers, chlorhexidine-alcohol skin preparation, avoiding the femoral site where possible, and daily review of line necessity
3. Routine replacement every three days
4. Antibiotic ointment at the site

Answer: B. Line bundles cut central line infections dramatically; scrubbing the hub before every access maintains the benefit.

Outbreaks and environment

Question 14

Three patients on one ward develop diarrhoea within 48 hours. The infection control response includes:

1. Continue routine care
2. Recognise a possible outbreak, isolate or cohort cases with contact precautions, send stool samples, enforce soap-and-water hand hygiene, enhance cleaning with a sporicidal agent, restrict transfers and notify infection control and public health
3. Give all patients antibiotics
4. Close the hospital

Answer: B. Early recognition and cohorting stop spread; norovirus and C. difficile are the usual culprits and both resist alcohol.

Question 15

A blood spill on the floor is managed by:

1. Mopping with water only
2. Wearing gloves and apron, covering with absorbent material or spill granules, applying a freshly prepared chlorine-releasing solution at about 10,000 ppm for blood, leaving it for the contact time, then cleaning and disposing of waste as clinical waste
3. Leaving it for housekeeping tomorrow
4. Using alcohol spray only

Answer: B. Blood spills need a high-concentration chlorine solution; general surfaces use about 1,000 ppm. Spill kits and training are audited.

How to practise

• Memorise the categories: which infection needs which precaution, and which PPE.
• Learn the bundles for catheters, lines, ventilators and surgical site infection as lists.
• Know the exposure pathway and PEP timing cold.

These items appear across the question banks for every profession. Related sets: nursing, dental assistant and hygienist, operation theatre technician and lab technologist questions. CSSD staff have a dedicated guide (CSSD guide).

Frequently asked questions

How many infection control questions are in the Prometric exam?

Usually five to ten on nursing and allied health papers, and several on physician and dental papers.

Which infections need airborne precautions?

Tuberculosis, measles, varicella, disseminated zoster, and suspected MERS-CoV and other novel respiratory viruses.

When must I use soap and water instead of alcohol rub?

When hands are visibly soiled, after C. difficile or norovirus contact, and after using the toilet.

How soon should HIV post-exposure prophylaxis start?

As soon as possible, ideally within two hours and no later than 72 hours after exposure.

Are these real exam questions?

No. They are original practice questions written to the published blueprints. Real exam content is confidential.