Stage 5 — Take action. Place the five action clusters in the safest sequence after the nurse recognizes suspected infectious pulmonary TB. Team tasks may overlap when qualified personnel are available.
Ordered Response
Choose your responses, then check the answer.
Explanation
Safest sequence: 2 → 3 → 5 → 4 → 1 First stop further unprotected exposure with client source control, a closed door, limited entry, and appropriate respiratory protection (choice 2). Next establish AIIR environmental control (choice 3). Then activate the clinical, infection-prevention, and public-health response and identify vulnerable contacts (choice 5). Obtain the diagnostic set and initiate the prescribed regimen without unnecessary delay (choice 4). Reassessment, teach-back, documentation, and closed-loop handoff complete the response (choice 1). In practice, notification, transfer preparation, and testing often overlap across the team.
1 — Stop the exposure Mask the client, close the door, limit entry, and ensure personnel do not enter without appropriate respiratory protection.
2 — Establish engineering control AIIR placement reduces spread while respiratory protection remains required for entry.
3 and 4 — Coordinate and diagnose Notify the accountable teams, establish the exposure window, and collect the recommended respiratory specimens. Treatment generally should not be delayed while awaiting bacteriologic results when TB is presumptive.
5 — Close the loop Reassess isolation and clinical status, use teach-back, document facts and times, and hand off each pending specimen, treatment, and contact-follow-up task.
Scenario (Stage 5 — Take action)The nurse must stop continuing exposure, establish airborne controls, and connect bedside care to diagnosis and public-health follow-up.
Contain before confirmation — Immediate source, environmental, and respiratory controls used for suspected disease while laboratory confirmation proceeds.
Parallel team response — Qualified personnel may prepare AIIR transfer, notify infection prevention, and organize testing concurrently after immediate exposure control.
Closed-loop exposure handoff — Transfer of the infectious-period estimate, exposed-person list, PPE and ventilation details, vulnerabilities, symptoms, tests, and follow-up dates to an accountable team.