Standard of care designed to protect healthcare providers from pathogens that can be spread by blood or any other body fluid via excretion or secretion; expands upon the concept of Universal Precautions is called what?

• A. Standard Precautions
• B. Universal Precautions
• C. PPE
• D. Pathogen

Answer: (A)

Standard Precautions are the baseline for infection prevention. They treat all blood and body fluids as potentially infectious and require consistent hand hygiene, use of PPE, safe injection practices, and proper cleaning, handling, and disposal of contaminated materials. This approach expands on Universal Precautions by covering all body fluids and exposures, not just those involving blood, and by addressing non‑intact skin and mucous membranes. PPE is an important tool within Standard Precautions, but using PPE alone isn’t the full framework. That broader, updated approach is Standard Precautions.