Infection Control, Sanitation, and Disinfection
The three levels of microbial control
Every candidate must be able to separate these terms cleanly, because exams love to blur them.
Cleaning (sanitation) removes visible debris and reduces microbes with soap/detergent and water. It never kills everything and is always the first step - an implement must be scrubbed free of product, filings, and residue before any disinfectant can work.
Disinfection destroys most pathogens on nonporous surfaces and implements using an EPA-registered product. For implements that may contact blood or broken skin, use a hospital-grade, tuberculocidal disinfectant and follow the label's contact time (commonly 10 minutes, but the label controls).
Sterilization destroys all microbial life, including spores, and is done with an autoclave or dry-heat sterilizer - not with a jar of blue liquid.
Traps to expect
- Calling a disinfectant a sterilant, or saying a UV lamp “sterilizes” tools (it does not).
- Forgetting to clean before disinfecting - a dirty tool in disinfectant fails.
- Assuming porous items (wooden sticks, cotton, buffer cores, files with foam) can be disinfected; they are single-use and must be discarded.
- Ignoring blood exposure protocol: stop, glove up, cleanse, cover, discard contaminated supplies, and refer the client.
- Double-dipping implements or fingers back into product containers.
Worked example
A client arrives with a small cut on her finger. You stop, put on fresh gloves, and use a single-use implement only; reusable metal tools go into the “dirty” bin, then soak in the labeled hospital-grade disinfectant for the full contact time, then are rinsed, dried, and stored covered. Solution containers are dated and changed per label or when cloudy.
Rule of thumb
Clean first, then disinfect for the full label time, then store dry and covered - if you can't disinfect it, it's single-use.