| Course | NU140 Nursing Fundamentals |
|---|---|
| Unit | Unit 2 |
| Paper type | Skills documentation |
| Length | About 860 words, 6 pages double-spaced |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Purdue University Global |
| Program | BSN (prelicensure) |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for NU140 Unit 2
Soap, Not Gel, Then Gown Before Gloves: Skills Documentation of Hand Hygiene and Donning and Removing Protective Equipment for a Composite Patient on Contact Precautions for Clostridioides difficile, Each Step With Its Reason
[Student Name]
Purdue University Global
NU140: Nursing Fundamentals
Unit 2 Skills Documentation
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
The patient is composite; the steps follow widely used infection-control guidance, and local policy governs where it differs.
Situation
[Mr. T.], a composite 69-year-old, is on contact precautions after testing positive for Clostridioides difficile, a bacterium whose spores cause diarrhea and survive on surfaces for long periods. A sign on his door lists the precautions: gown and gloves for entry, dedicated equipment, and handwashing with soap and water on leaving. The task documented here is entering his room to measure vital signs and leaving without carrying the organism to the next patient.
Supplies
The supplies follow the room setup described in the fundamentals text (Potter et al., 2023). Soap and running water at the sink outside the room; paper towels; an isolation cart with disposable gowns and nonsterile gloves in the correct size; a dedicated thermometer and blood pressure cuff kept in the room; a lined waste container inside the door.
Part One: Hand Hygiene With Soap and Water
1. Remove rings and push sleeves above the wrists. Reason: jewelry and cuffs shelter organisms and prevent full contact with soap.
2. Turn on the water and wet hands and wrists, holding hands lower than elbows. Reason: water runs from the cleanest area toward the fingertips and drain.
3. Apply soap and lather for at least [20] seconds, rubbing palms, backs of hands, between fingers, thumbs, fingertips and wrists. Reason: friction removes spores physically; the commonly missed areas are thumbs and fingertips.
4. Rinse thoroughly, fingertips down. Reason: rinsing carries loosened spores and soap away.
5. Dry with a paper towel and use the towel to turn off the faucet. Reason: the faucet handle was touched by unwashed hands.
Why not alcohol gel? Alcohol-based hand rub is preferred for most patient care because it kills most bacteria quickly, but it does not reliably kill bacterial spores. When hands may be contaminated with Clostridioides difficile, washing with soap and water removes spores mechanically (Boyce & Pittet, 2002).
The choice of soap over gel is not a preference; alcohol leaves spores on the hands, so only washing removes them.
Part Two: Putting On Protective Equipment
6. Perform hand hygiene before putting on equipment. Reason: clean hands avoid contaminating the outside of new gloves.
7. Put on the gown, tying it at the neck and waist so it covers the torso from neck to knees and arms to wrists. Reason: clothing is the surface most likely to touch the bed, rails and patient.
8. Put on gloves, pulling the cuffs over the gown's sleeves. Reason: the overlap leaves no exposed skin at the wrist.
9. Enter, perform the vital signs with the room's dedicated equipment, and touch nothing unnecessary. Reason: every surface in the room may carry spores.
Part Three: Removing Protective Equipment
10. Before leaving, remove gloves first: grasp the outside of one glove at the palm, peel it off, hold it in the gloved hand, slide a finger of the bare hand under the cuff of the second glove and peel it off over the first. Reason: the gloves are the most contaminated item, and bare skin touches only the inside of the glove.
11. Untie the gown, peel it forward off the shoulders, handling just its inner surface, turn it inside out as it comes off, roll it and discard it in the room. Reason: the outside of the gown is contaminated; folding it inward contains the contamination.
12. Leave the room and wash hands with soap and water, following steps 1 to 5. Reason: hands may have been contaminated during removal, which is when self-contamination most often happens (Siegel et al., 2007).
Cleaning the Shared Space
Equipment that cannot stay in the room, such as a bladder scanner brought in for one check, is cleaned with a product that kills spores, usually a bleach-based wipe, and left wet for the contact time on its label before it leaves the doorway. Ordinary disinfectant wipes used elsewhere on the unit may not kill spores, so the label matters as much as the wiping.
Documentation Entry
[Time]: Entered room on contact precautions for C. difficile using gown and gloves. Vital signs obtained with dedicated equipment: temperature [37.4] C, pulse [92], respirations [18], blood pressure [118/72]. Two loose stools reported since 0600. Patient reminded to wash his own hands with soap and water after toileting. Protective equipment removed in room; hand hygiene with soap and water on exit.
Common Errors This Record Prevents
Using alcohol gel alone on leaving the room; taking off the gown before the gloves, which contaminates the hands while untying; touching the face or hair with gloved hands; carrying the blood pressure cuff from this room to the next; and skipping hand hygiene before putting on gloves. Teaching the patient to wash with soap and water after using the toilet extends the same protection to the people who visit him.
References
Boyce, J. M., & Pittet, D. (2002). Guideline for hand hygiene in health-care settings: Recommendations of the Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee and the HICPAC/SHEA/APIC/IDSA Hand Hygiene Task Force. MMWR Recommendations and Reports, 51(RR-16), 1-45.
Potter, P. A., Perry, A. G., Stockert, P. A., & Hall, A. M. (2023). Fundamentals of nursing (11th ed.). Elsevier.
Siegel, J. D., Rhinehart, E., Jackson, M., Chiarello, L., & the Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee. (2007). 2007 guideline for isolation precautions: Preventing transmission of infectious agents in healthcare settings. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
What the NU140 Unit 2 assignment asks for
Unit 2 usually asks you to document an aseptic or infection-control skill in writing, so precisely that someone who had never done it could follow the steps. Prompts commonly want supplies, numbered steps in order, a reason for each step, and a sample documentation entry. Length varies by section; graders want correct sequence, reasons grounded in how infection spreads, and attention to the moments when errors are most likely, such as removing protective equipment. Where the organism or situation changes the usual technique, as spores do for hand hygiene, the documentation should say so and explain why. Citing infection-control guidance and the course text supports each reason. Keep the patient composite.
How this NU140 Unit 2 example is built
The record opens with the patient, his precautions and the task of taking vital signs in his room. Supplies are listed, followed by five steps of handwashing with reasons, and a paragraph explaining why soap and water replace alcohol gel for spores, with the highlighted line on that choice. Putting on equipment takes four steps, from hand hygiene to gloves over gown cuffs. Removal takes three detailed steps, gloves first, then the gown rolled inward, then handwashing outside the room. A section on cleaning shared equipment with a spore-killing product follows, then a charting entry with vital signs and teaching, and finally a list of common errors the record is designed to prevent.
NU140 Unit 2 rubric: what earns full points
Skills documentation in NU 140 is typically graded on accuracy of sequence, quality of rationales, completeness, and documentation. Sequence points go to steps in the correct order, especially for removing protective equipment. Rationales are weighted heavily and earn credit when each explains the infection-control principle behind the step rather than restating it. Completeness rewards supplies, preparation, the skill itself and cleanup. The sample charting entry is judged on accuracy, objectivity and inclusion of what was done and observed. Supporting guidance cited in APA 7 strengthens the rationales, and a numbered, easy-to-follow layout lets a grader check every step against the standard. Explaining why a step changes for this organism, rather than following routine, usually separates the strongest write-ups.
NU140 Unit 2 help from the desk
Skills write-ups often list steps without reasons, or give reasons that only repeat the step, such as "wash hands to clean them." Another frequent mistake is using alcohol gel for an organism that forms spores, or failing to explain why the usual choice changes. Many write-ups describe putting on equipment carefully but rush the removal, which is when contamination most often happens. Some forget the charting entry altogether. Number every step, give each a principle-based reason, give removal the most detail, explain any change from routine technique, include a factual documentation entry, and finish with the errors your steps are meant to prevent. Read your steps aloud as if guiding a new aide; any gap will show.
Get an NU140 Unit 2 example written to your instructions
Hand hygiene alone, a sterile field, glove technique: whichever skill your Unit 2 section assigned, upload it with the rubric and any lab checklist. Rationales come paired to steps, and naming your skills text edition lets the citations line up. Expect the draft inside 24-48h; as a first custom sample it carries no charge. The paper above is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Purdue University Global document.
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NU140 Unit 2 questions, answered
Where can I find a free NU140 Unit 2 sample paper?
You can read the complete NU140 Unit 2 skills documentation here, covering handwashing, putting on and removing a gown and gloves, cleaning shared equipment, a charting entry and common errors, each step with its reason, and three references. We can document a different skill for you.
Why use soap and water instead of alcohol gel for C. difficile?
Alcohol-based hand rub kills most bacteria but does not reliably kill bacterial spores. Washing with soap, water and friction removes spores from the hands mechanically, which is why the record specifies it on leaving the room.
In what order should PPE be removed?
Gloves first, peeled off so bare skin touches only the inside, then the gown, pulled forward and rolled inward, followed by hand hygiene. Gloves are the most contaminated item, so they come off before anything else.
Why does equipment stay in the patient's room?
Spores survive on surfaces, so a thermometer or blood pressure cuff carried to the next room can spread the organism. Items that must leave are cleaned with a product that kills spores.
What goes in the NU140 skills documentation entry?
The precautions used, findings such as vital signs and stool count, any teaching given, and how equipment was removed and hands cleaned, written factually with the time.