What is the first action to take before entering a room with airborne precautions?

Performing hand hygiene is the critical first action to take before entering a room with airborne precautions. Hand hygiene helps to significantly reduce the risk of pathogen transmission. It ensures that any potential contaminants on your hands are eliminated before you enter the patient’s environment, which is particularly important in settings with airborne precautions where patients may be particularly vulnerable to infections.

In situations requiring airborne precautions, such as in the presence of diseases like tuberculosis or measles, hand hygiene is foundational to infection control practices. This step sets the stage for any subsequent protective measures, such as donning personal protective equipment (PPE) like masks, gowns, gloves, or goggles.

Other actions, like putting on gloves, a gown, or goggles, are important but are secondary to the hand hygiene initiative. The proper sequence underscores the importance of starting with clean hands to maintain the highest standards of safety and communication of care quality while minimizing the risk of cross-contamination in healthcare settings.