Do our steths spread infection

Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN · Jul 6, 2005

Our facility recently started putting a disposable stethoscope in each pt.'s room. One steth for each pt.

Which sounds like a good idea. But it's still no less of a breeding ground.

Roy Fokker, BSN, RN · Jul 7, 2005

I find myself wiping my steth unconsciously with an alcohol swab.

But I admit I'm not regular with it :uhoh21:

Infact, this wasn't exactly pointed out in school for us.

allnurses Guide · Jul 7, 2005

I do remember reading a study about this . . . .germs on stethoscopes and pens and ties, etc.

Every time I go to work, I clean my stethoscope. I've had it for 7 years and it still looks good.

steph

toadie · Jul 7, 2005

my instructor from my very first clinical told me about a nurse who nearly lost her hearing from a patient. she bent over him with her scope around her neck and he coughed on it. a few days later she got an ear infection and almost lost her hearing. im an avid user of alcohol to wipe down my entire scope. old wives tale? :rolleyes:

psalm, RN · Jul 7, 2005

...my stethescope always gets an alcohol wipe after each pt. contact, usually while I am still talking to the pt. It is so automatic now after 5 years of using one. I also use the hand disinfectant before leaving the room (we have containers of it attached to the walls of each room). If the pt. uses the bedside commode or doesn't wash hand after the toilet, I will bring the disinfectant when they are back in bed and spray some in the hands...it is foam, so they are clean. We have a lot of MRSA and Hep C pts. and I don't want to share.

...ever wonder about the curtains between the beds? :uhoh3:

TracyB,RN, RN · Jul 7, 2005

oh gag... the curtains are NASTY..

I clean my "ears" in between every patient. Always have & will continue doing so, until I get to retire.

nars ako · Jul 7, 2005

hello guys,,, im new here and i've been looking thru all the topics and responses and they are very interesting so i decided to join.

steths.... well yeah i would think so. we have students here in our hospital that did a culture of our id badges and they came out positive! now with that steths would have more on them right? i would have to look up the specific organism just for fyi.

looking forward to more good topics and conversations with all of you. :rotfl:

MissJoRN, RN · Jul 7, 2005

We have a doc that works at our hospital occasionally with quite the reputation for a lack of common sense hygiene. (I've actually seen him do a digital-rectal on a pt without gloves...ewww....and it's not that he washes his hands well) So when he comes through, I make sure housekeeping disinfects everything! "Dr Dirty was on the phone, make sure you really clean that...it has to go near my face!" Now I really belive the pen bit, since I once caught him picking up mine- but I did throw it away, ASAP! Enough of that ooogieness, even my fellow nurses have limits to what you ca stomach, right??

I clean my steth regularly with the alc swabs. We do have disposable stethoscopes for isolation pts, but everyone knows they're not that good, right. I'd struggle by on an adult floor but with pedi pts who are screaming, babbling, crying, I need a good scope to pick up the breath sounds, esp when they can go from wheeze to clear to wheeze to diminished like that! My other beef is that the diaphragms are so large (well, adult) and I'm so used to my pedi scope that I feel I'm not getting the sound I need. So, my solution? I cut the fingers off a couple pairs of gloves early in my shift, then I pull one of the fingers, AKA patented 'steth covers' over the chest piece of my scope, listen to the kid, the drop the cover in the trash before cleaning my scope. Maybe overkill? But I feel a little better about it. I'm sure neither the infection control officer not the cost containment police would approve, though, but I don't always approve of them, LOL!