Infection Control & Medical Asepsis
Clue: The single most effective practice to prevent the transmission of disease in a clinical setting.
Answer: What is hand hygiene (or handwashing)?
Clue: The patient's primary reason for visiting the medical office, recorded in the patient’s own words.
Answer: What is the Chief Complaint (CC)?
Clue: The peripheral pulse location found on the inner side of the wrist at the base of the thumb, most commonly used in adults.
Answer: What is the radial pulse?
Clue: The physical examination method that uses touch to feel body structures for size, shape, texture, or tenderness.
Answer: What is palpation?
Clue: The technique of keeping your feet shoulder-width apart, bending at the knees rather than the waist, and holding heavy objects close to your body when moving patients.
Answer: What are proper body mechanics?
Clue: The term for clean techniques and environmental practices designed to reduce and prevent the spread of microorganisms.
Answer: What is medical asepsis?
Clue: Patient-reported feelings or symptoms, such as pain, dizziness, or fatigue, that cannot be directly measured or seen by the medical assistant.
Answer: What is subjective data (or subjective information)?
Clue: The medical term describing an adult resting heart rate that is greater than 100 beats per minute.
Answer: What is tachycardia?
Clue: The exam position where the patient lies on their back with knees bent and feet flat on the examination table.
Answer: What is the dorsal recumbent position?
Clue: Federal safety standards established by OSHA requiring employers to protect healthcare workers from exposure to infectious materials and bloodborne pathogens.
Answer: What is the Bloodborne Pathogens Standard?
Clue: An infection contracted by a patient while receiving healthcare treatment inside a medical facility.
Answer: What is a nosocomial infection (or Healthcare-Associated Infection / HAI)?
Clue: In SOAP note documentation, physical exam findings, vital sign values, and laboratory test results are documented under this section.
Answer: What is O (for Objective)?
Clue: The specific vascular sounds listened for through a stethoscope when manually measuring blood pressure.
Answer: What are Korotkoff sounds?
Clue: The physical examination technique of striking or tapping the body surface to produce sounds that indicate underlying density.
Answer: What is percussion?
Clue: Special safety documents provided by chemical manufacturers that detail hazard identification, handling, storage, and emergency first-aid measures.
Answer: What are Safety Data Sheets (SDS) (formerly MSDS)?
Clue: The missing final link in the chain of infection model: Infectious Agent, Reservoir, Portal of Exit, Mode of Transmission, Portal of Entry, and _____.
Answer: What is a Susceptible Host?
Clue: An active listening technique where the medical assistant rephrases or restates the patient's statement to ensure accurate communication.
Answer: What is reflection (or paraphrasing)?
Clue: A sudden drop in blood pressure caused by changing positions rapidly from lying or sitting to an upright standing position.
Answer: What is orthostatic (postural) hypotension?
Clue: The examination position where the patient lies face down flat on their abdomen, commonly used for spine and back evaluations.
Answer: What is the prone position?
Clue: The standard patient position where the head of the exam table is elevated to a 45-to-90-degree angle, commonly used for patients experiencing dyspnea or respiratory distress.
Answer: What is Fowler's position (or High Fowler's)?
Clue: The process that completely eliminates all living microorganisms, including resistant bacterial spores, usually performed with an autoclave.
Answer: What is sterilization?
Clue: The portion of the patient medical history that details health conditions, diseases, and causes of death of direct blood relatives.
Answer: What is the Family History (FH)?
Clue: The numerical difference obtained when subtracting the diastolic blood pressure reading from the systolic blood pressure reading.
Answer: What is pulse pressure?
Clue: Listening to internal body sounds (such as heart, lung, or bowel sounds) using a stethoscope.
Answer: What is auscultation?
Clue: The two unique identifiers required by Joint Commission national patient safety goals to correctly confirm a patient's identity prior to performing any clinical procedure.
Answer: What are the patient's full name and date of birth (DOB)?