Tech in Surgery Prep / Unit 6 TSC 127 worked example, 60 to 90 seconds
Critical, Semicritical, Noncritical
The idea
The Spaulding classification sorts patient-care items into three categories by the risk of infection they carry, and the category decides how each item is processed.
In practice
Sort an item in three steps. First, ask whether it enters sterile tissue or the bloodstream. If so, it is critical, and it must be sterile: surgical instruments, implants, and catheters entering the bladder or heart are examples. Second, if not, ask whether it touches mucous membranes or broken skin. If so, it is semicritical, and it needs at least high-level disinfection: anesthesia and respiratory equipment and some endoscopes are examples. Third, if it touches only intact skin, it is noncritical, and low-level disinfection is enough: a blood pressure cuff is an example.
Where people slip
The scheme is a starting point, not an answer for every device. The guideline itself notes that some complex, heat-sensitive devices and some infectious agents do not fit it neatly, and the device manufacturer's instructions then decide the method.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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