CIC Cleaning, Disinfection, & Sterilization 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which Spaulding classification applies to endoscopes that contact only intact mucous membranes?
- Critical
- Semi-critical (Correct answer)
- Non-critical
- Uncategorized
Correct answer: Semi-critical
Semi-critical items contact mucous membranes or non-intact skin and require at minimum high-level disinfection.
Question 2: What is the primary reason organic matter must be removed before disinfection?
- It damages the disinfectant container
- It can inactivate or reduce disinfectant efficacy (Correct answer)
- It increases the contact time needed for low-level disinfection
- It prevents proper labeling of the instrument
Correct answer: It can inactivate or reduce disinfectant efficacy
Organic matter such as blood and tissue can bind to and neutralize disinfectants, significantly reducing their effectiveness.
Question 3: Steam sterilization is NOT suitable for which type of item?
- Stainless steel surgical instruments
- Wrapped textile packs
- Moisture-sensitive electronic components (Correct answer)
- Unwrapped metal bowls
Correct answer: Moisture-sensitive electronic components
Heat- and moisture-sensitive items such as electronics require low-temperature sterilization methods like ethylene oxide or hydrogen peroxide plasma.
Question 4: A biological indicator (BI) used in steam sterilization contains spores of which organism?
- Bacillus anthracis
- Geobacillus stearothermophilus (Correct answer)
- Clostridium difficile
- Bacillus subtilis
Correct answer: Geobacillus stearothermophilus
Geobacillus stearothermophilus spores are the standard biological indicator for steam sterilization because of their high heat resistance.
Question 5: Which action should be taken when a wet pack is discovered after steam sterilization?
- Allow it to air-dry on a clean surface and use immediately
- Document and consider it sterile if the external indicator changed
- Consider the pack non-sterile and reprocess it (Correct answer)
- Rewrap and re-sterilize without cleaning
Correct answer: Consider the pack non-sterile and reprocess it
Wet packs are considered compromised because moisture can allow microbial wicking through packaging materials, rendering the contents non-sterile.
Question 6: Glutaraldehyde used for high-level disinfection of endoscopes requires a minimum contact time at room temperature of:
- 5 minutes
- 20 minutes (Correct answer)
- 45 minutes
- 60 minutes
Correct answer: 20 minutes
A 2% glutaraldehyde solution requires at least 20 minutes of contact at 20°C (68°F) to achieve high-level disinfection.
Question 7: Which term describes sterilization monitoring that evaluates every parameter of the sterilization cycle simultaneously?
- Chemical indicator Class 1
- Biological indicator
- Chemical indicator Class 5 (integrating indicator) (Correct answer)
- Physical monitoring
Correct answer: Chemical indicator Class 5 (integrating indicator)
Class 5 integrating indicators react to all critical parameters (time, temperature, and steam) and correlate with biological indicator performance.
CIC Cleaning, Disinfection, & Sterilization 2
Which Spaulding classification applies to endoscopes that contact only intact mucous membranes?