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Failure Analysis

Common PPE and Hand Hygiene Mistakes

Donning and doffing order are both independently testable on the written exam, and instructors watch for the correct sequence every single time, not just when a patient has known precautions.

How this procedure is evaluated

Your training program instructor or clinical preceptor observes your technique and decides whether a draw or procedure counts toward your required documentation (at least 30 venipunctures and 10 capillary punctures for NHA CPT eligibility). A technique error doesn't just risk the sample — it can mean the attempt doesn't count toward your total.

The 5 Most Common Mistakes

1

Reversing the donning or doffing order, which increases self-contamination risk.

Why it matters: This is one of the specific checkpoints your instructor or preceptor documents during supervised practice — not a judgment call, but an explicit item on the competency sign-off.

2

Skipping hand hygiene between glove removal and leaving the room.

Why it matters: This is one of the specific checkpoints your instructor or preceptor documents during supervised practice — not a judgment call, but an explicit item on the competency sign-off.

3

Treating standard precautions as optional for patients without a known diagnosis.

Why it matters: This is one of the specific checkpoints your instructor or preceptor documents during supervised practice — not a judgment call, but an explicit item on the competency sign-off.

4

Touching the outside of a contaminated glove with a bare hand while removing it.

Why it matters: This is one of the specific checkpoints your instructor or preceptor documents during supervised practice — not a judgment call, but an explicit item on the competency sign-off.

5

Setting a used needle down "just for a second" instead of disposing of it immediately.

Why it matters: This is one of the specific checkpoints your instructor or preceptor documents during supervised practice — not a judgment call, but an explicit item on the competency sign-off.

Exactly What Your Instructor Is Checking

These are the specific checkpoints your instructor or preceptor documents for this procedure.

✓
Performs hand hygiene before donning gloves and immediately after removing them.
✓
Dons PPE in the correct order: gown, mask, goggles, gloves.
✓
Doffs PPE in the correct order: gloves, goggles, gown, mask.
✓
Applies standard precautions consistently, not only for patients with known infections.
✓
Disposes of sharps directly into a sharps container with no intermediate setdown.

How to Avoid These Mistakes

These tips come from the most common mistake patterns in PPE and Hand Hygiene.

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The donning and doffing order are both frequently tested as standalone exam questions — know both sequences, not just the general concept of PPE.
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Hand hygiene timing (before gloves, after gloves, after all PPE) is tested as specifically as the PPE order itself.

Practice checklist →

Printable step-by-step checklist

What to say →

Exact verbal cues for patient interaction

Practice the written exam too

500 free NHA CPT practice questions with instant explanations.

Take the Practice Test →