NCLEX-PN · Safe and Effective Care Environment

Safety and Infection Prevention and Control Review

Review status: Draft. This NCLEX-PN content has not been reviewed by a licensed nursing professional. LPN/VN scope of practice varies by state, setting and facility policy; always follow your program, your state's nurse practice act and your facility's policies.

Preventing injury and infection: precautions, PPE, falls, restraints, emergencies and safe equipment use.

2026 NCLEX-PN test plan:: 10–16% of the exam
Practice questions:: 28 original

Practice Safety and Infection Prevention and Control questions

What this category covers

This category covers how the nurse protects clients, staff and visitors from injury and infection. It includes hand hygiene, standard and transmission-based precautions, aseptic technique, correct client identification, fall and injury prevention, the safe use of restraints and equipment, handling hazardous materials, responding to emergencies, and reporting unsafe conditions or events.

Key concepts

Precautions and PPE

Standard precautions apply to every client. Contact, droplet and airborne precautions add specific PPE and room requirements based on how an organism spreads. Put on and remove PPE in an order that avoids contaminating yourself.

Preventing falls and injury

Identify clients at risk, keep the environment safe, answer call lights promptly and use the facility's fall-prevention measures. Restraints are a last resort, need an order and policy-based monitoring, and are never used for convenience.

Observe, act, escalate

Many safety questions ask what the nurse does first: stop an unsafe action, protect the client, then report. Know which steps you take yourself and which situations need the RN, provider or emergency team.

Reporting events

Incident or event reports support quality improvement, not blame. Document the facts in the client record per policy and complete the event report according to facility procedure.

Topics to review

Hand hygiene and standard precautions
Contact, droplet and airborne precautions
PPE donning and removal
Aseptic and sterile technique
Client identification and medication safety
Fall prevention and injury prevention
Restraints and safety devices
Emergency response and fire safety
Sharps, hazardous materials and equipment safety
Reporting unsafe practice and incidents

Related case studies

Sources

Educational Use & Safety

Educational exam preparation only. Questions and case studies use fictional clients and teach general nursing concepts. They are not medical advice and do not determine care for an actual patient. Always follow current clinical guidance, provider orders, and your program's and facility's policies.