Patient safety and stethoscopes

Importance in maintaining the hygiene of stethoscopes is underplayed. An effective patient safety culture will not merely respond to recognised risk but will identify and mitigate potential risk. These data suggest the entirety of the stethoscope will become colonised regardless of its environment. A good patient safety intervention will make doing the right thing the easy thing. Here we argue for cleansing the entirety of the stethoscope before and after patient contact.