Which infection-control practice is essential for foot baths between clients?

• A. Use disposable liners only, no need to disinfect
• B. Use an appropriate disinfectant and change or sanitize water between clients or use disposable liners
• C. Reuse water across clients to save resources
• D. Avoid any disinfection to keep the environment natural

Answer: (B)

Preventing cross-contamination in foot baths is essential. The basin and water can carry microorganisms from one client to the next, so the safest practice is to either replace or sanitize the water and disinfect the basin between clients or use disposable liners to create a barrier. This approach stops pathogen transmission and protects clients. Relying only on liners without disinfecting can leave residual contamination, reusing water spreads organisms between clients, and avoiding disinfection goes against standard infection-control practices.