Stethoscope contamination in the neonatal intensive care unit.

The level of contamination of stethoscopes used in a neonatal intensive care unit was studied, along with the practices used for cleaning these items. A policy of alcohol cleaning was introduced and the effect of this change on the level of bacterial growth was observed after a six-week period. It was found that 71% of stethoscopes had a significant bacterial growth and that this was reduced to 30% after the cleaning procedure change (P < 0.05). Stethoscopes and other equipment are a potential source of nosocomial infection on the neonatal intensive care unit.