• Rajiv S Vasudevan, Sean Mojaver, Kay-Won Chang, Alan S Maisel, Frank Peacock W W Department of Emergency Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX., and Punam Chowdhury.
• Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA. Electronic address: rvasudev@ucsd.edu.
• Am J Infect Control. 2019 Mar 1; 47 (3): 234-237.

BackgroundStethoscopes harbor pathogens that can be transferred to patients when proper sanitary measures are not taken. Our aim was to assess medical provider stethoscope cleaning and hand hygiene in an emergency department setting.MethodsThe frequency and methods of stethoscope cleaning during and after provider-patient encounters were observed anonymously in an emergency department of the VA San Diego Healthcare System.ResultsAmong the total of 426 encounters, 115 (26.9%) involved the use of a personal stethoscope. In 15 of these 115 encounters (13.0%), the provider placed a glove over the stethoscope before patient contact. In 13 of these 115 encounters (11.3%), the provider cleaned the stethoscope with an alcohol swab after patient interaction. Stethoscope hygiene with water and a hand towel before patient interaction was observed in 5 of these 115 encounters (4.3%). Hand sanitizer use or handwashing was observed in 213 of the 426 encounters (50.0%) before patient interaction. Gloves were used before patient interaction in 206 of these 426 encounters (48.4%). Hand sanitizer or handwashing was used in 332 of the 426 encounters (77.9%) after patient interaction.ConclusionsRates of stethoscope and hand hygiene performance were lower than expected. Further investigation of stethoscope contamination and the associated risk of nosocomial infection are needed. Perhaps clearer guidelines on proper stethoscope cleaning would reduce this risk.Copyright © 2018 Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. All rights reserved.

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