Vascular Access Exam Prep

Answer: A - Standard Precautions are guidelines recommended by the CDC for all patients regardless of disease or infectious status, and an OSHA standard for compliancy. It is a method of infection control designed to prevent transmission of pathogenic organism from any source of body fluid, regardless of the presence of blood. Standard Precautions are a combination of two previous standards, Universal Precautions and Body Substance Isolation. Universal precautions, implemented in 1985, are guidelines designed to prevent transmission of blood-borne pathogens. Universal Precautions instructed healthcare workers to use personal protective equipment when contact with blood or blood-containing body fluid was a possibility. Body substance isolation (BSI) was added in 1987 and expanded protection guidelines to include all body fluids and substances, regardless of presence of blood.