Infection ControlQuestion 70 of 100
Under the accepted classification of patient-care items, a surgical scalpel and a bone chisel are considered:
a.Noncritical items that need only low-level disinfection
b.Semicritical items that may be high-level disinfected
c.Critical items that must be heat sterilized between patients
d.Environmental surfaces requiring a barrier only
Explanation
Critical items penetrate soft tissue or bone and must be heat sterilized after every use because any contamination poses a high risk of infection. Semicritical items such as mirrors contact mucous membranes but do not penetrate tissue, and noncritical items such as a blood pressure cuff touch only intact skin. Instruments are patient-care items, not environmental surfaces.
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