Stethoscope Cleaning During Patient Care.

BACKGROUND

We conducted a cross-sectional survey of healthcare workers in two community teaching hospitals to better understand clinicians' beliefs and practices related to cleaning of their stethoscopes. The study was conducted from September 2015 to May 2016.

PARTICIPANTS

Among the total 358 responses received, 45%, 40%, 10% and 5% were from attending physicians, medical students, nurses, and resident physicians, respectively.

KEY RESULTS

Although the majority of the respondents (76%) frequently used a stethoscope at work, and almost all (93%) believed that stethoscopes can be involved in pathogen transmission, only 29% of participants reported cleaning their stethoscopes after every use.

CONCLUSIONS

Hospitals should include stethoscope cleaning into their overall infection prevention efforts.