Key Takeaways

• There are three categories of additional precautions: contact precautions, droplet precautions, and airborne precautions. Some infectious agents can be a combination of the various categories. 

• Additional precautions include PPE, as well as specialized equipment (e.g., N95 respirator) and specific environmental protocols (e.g., room accommodation and placement, negative pressure engineered rooms and advanced cleaning protocols).

• You need to understand the mode of transmission of the infectious agent to determine which additional precaution is required.

• It’s important to place the client on additional precautions if the client has been confirmed with an infection or is suspected of having an infection according to their clinical presentations.

• Infection prevention and control practices are everyone’s responsibility. Healthcare providers, clients, and visitors play an important role in decreasing the risk of transmitting infections by following additional precautions to ensure the safety of clients and healthcare environments.