Which of the following correctly describes how medical equipment is classified according to the Spaulding classification system?
A. Noncritical items include surgical instruments that enter sterile areas of the body.
B. Semicritical items have a low risk of transmitting infection because they only touch intact skin.
C. Critical items can easily transmit infection because they enter sterile areas of the body.
D. Noncritical items do not need to be disinfected.
Answer (2)
The correct answer is option C, which states that critical items can easily transmit infection because they enter sterile areas of the body. The Spaulding classification system categorizes medical equipment into critical, semicritical, and noncritical items based on their infection transmission risk and dictates the cleaning processes needed for each. Understanding these classifications helps ensure proper sterilization and infection control in healthcare settings.
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The Spaulding classification system categorizes medical equipment into critical, semicritical, and noncritical items based on their risk of infection transmission. Critical items require sterilization, semicritical items require high-level disinfection, and noncritical items should at least be cleaned. Option C correctly describes critical items as those that can easily transmit infections by entering sterile areas of the body. ;
