Medical Assistant Prep / Unit 9 MAS 204 worked example, 60 to 90 seconds
Three Categories of Risk
The idea
Patient-care items are sorted into three categories, by the infection risk they carry, and the category decides how each item is processed.
In practice
The first category is critical items, which enter sterile tissue or the bloodstream, such as surgical instruments; they must be sterile. The second category is semicritical items, which touch mucous membranes or broken skin, such as some endoscopes and respiratory equipment; they need at least high-level disinfection. The third category is noncritical items, which touch only intact skin, such as blood pressure cuffs and crutches; they need cleaning and low-level disinfection.
Where people slip
Classify an item by how it is used, not by what it is called. An item that normally touches only intact skin becomes a higher-risk item if it is used on broken skin or a mucous membrane.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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