Stethoscope and Superbugs

Nurses General Nursing

Published

I work on a geriatric psych floor. I was off for a few days, and when I came back, one of the rooms was quarantined because one of our patients had acinetobacter. We didn't know she had the bug, and I didn't find out until after she was gone from the unit, and I had assessed her like any other patient with my stethoscope.

So how do I clean my stethoscope? I've been wiping it down with the cancer causing wipes at work (okay I've been told they cause cancer), but is there another way to really clean it? I read on the Littman website you just wipe it down. Does anyone know the ratio of bleach to water that would be appropriate?

Specializes in Cardio-Pulmonary; Med-Surg; Private Duty.
Our BP cuffs are used over and over again.

Regular cuffs I can see, because they have that nylon-style covering that has a better chance of actually being cleaned. But the disposable type of cuff has a felt-like type of cloth covering on it. (It's hard to describe, but maybe you know what I'm talking about?) I don't see how a swipe with a cancer-wipe is going to kill all the fomites in the nooks and crannies of the cloth-style cuffs.

No answers, but I do have a question. If stethoscopes are 'assigned' to a room to avoid transmission between patients - how are the earpieces cleaned between nurses/Clinicians? Does everyone carry their own earpieces? I have never allowed anyone to use my 'scope because I think that the swapping earwax thing is just icky.

IME, just alcohol wipes PRN. With most patients, the doc just rounds once a day, and the assigned nurse is the only other person who uses the scope. So if the docs care about the nurse's earwax, they wipe the scopes with an alcohol square before using. And if the nurses care about the doc's earwax, they wipe the scopes before the next use after rounds.

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Specializes in Cardio-Pulmonary; Med-Surg; Private Duty.

(How pathetic is it that I'm ridiculously pleased with myself for having just used the word "fomite" in a post here? Does that qualify me for admittance to the Crusty Old Bat Society?)

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Specializes in Urology, ENT.
(How pathetic is it that I'm ridiculously pleased with myself for having just used the word "fomite" in a post here? Does that qualify me for admittance to the Crusty Old Bat Society?)

I've used fomites in conversations before. Sometimes my coworkers think I'm crazy.

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I use alcohol wipes on just about everything that needs to be cleaned at work. I hope that's not what you mean by 'cancer wipes'.

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I love the word 'fomite', too. But the actual fomite is the BP cuff itself, and you can't kill that ;)

Also, you would think Cavi-wipes cause skin CA, but a quick search does not reveal which cancer it actually causes. I think they're required to put that on the label just like how some apartment complexes in California have signs stating that the premises contain substances known to cause cancer, i.e. cigarette smoke, other fumes, the sun...

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Specializes in Urology, ENT.
I use alcohol wipes on just about everything that needs to be cleaned at work. I hope that's not what you mean by 'cancer wipes'.

No, I'm talking about Cavi-wipes. Good lord if alcohol wipes caused cancer, we're all screwed.

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No, I'm talking about Cavi-wipes. Good lord if alcohol wipes caused cancer, we're all screwed.

That would be one big class action law suit.

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I almost never use my stethoscope anymore . . . I work on a peds pulmonary unit and most of my patients have bad bugs, and many of them are chronically infected with MRSA and/or psuedomonas. The non-chronics often have RSV, pertussis, etc. And, the ones who are healthy, I don't want to get them sick. So most of our patients have the disposable scopes in their rooms.

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