About StethoCLEANTM
Overview
St. Joseph Solutions, LLC is the owner of StethoCLEANTM, invented by Jennifer Giroux, a nurse and mother of nine from Cincinnati, Ohio. Our product is designed to stay with the doctor or nurse from room to room, patient to patient so a clean sleeve protects each patient (and caregiver) from the threat of dirty stethoscopes and the infection that can follow.
If you have interest in securing a licensing agreement with our company for sales or manufacturing, please contact Bill Kenney at 513-658-4190.
- It is to the stethoscope what the glove is to the unprotected hand
- A Life-Saving Precaution
- A Missing Link in Standard Infection Control
The Need
As reported in Bottom Line Health in spring of 2005:
"Doctors almost never wash their stethoscopes. Out of 150 stethoscopes tested, 133 (88%) were found to harbor staph bacteria!"
The above statement is staggering. But even more alarming is the fact that 90% of all Stethoscopes today are contaiminated with some form of microrganism. The demanding and fast paced clinical setting does not always afford caregivers the ability to properly clean the stethoscope by traditional means between patients. It has been documented that only 32% of healthcare workers clean their stethoscope regularly. One study revealed that 234 of 355 stethoscopes carried at least two different types of bacteria, and 31 carried potentially pathogenic bacteria. Another showed the following in regards to the contamination of the stethoscope:
- 90% of physicians' stethoscopes were contaminated
- 79% of nurses' stethoscopes were contaminated
- 67% of medical school students stethoscopes were contaminated
- 83% of respiratory therapists' stethoscopes were contaminated
- 100% of physical therapists' stethoscopes were contaminated
The Answer
A Solution to the Missing Link in Standard Infection Control Care Registered Nurse and mother of nine Invents Innovative Solution To Prevent Patient-To-Patient Germ Transfer Via Contaminated Stethoscopes.
"When I think about children like my own being exposed to germs on unclean stethoscopes, I can't help but hope that StethoCLEANTM will be adopted as the standard for patient care." Jennifer Giroux, R.N, Inventor
A Registered Nurse since 1984, Mrs. Jennifer Giroux spent enough time in diverse clinical settings, such as Infectious Disease Units, to make a simple yet brilliant observation about one of the medical profession's most trusted devices: the stethoscope.
Mrs. Giroux observed that stethoscopes are rarely cleaned between patients, and can thus easily spread infectious bacteria and other germs.
Mrs. Giroux Answers The Problem With The Innovative StethoCLEANTM. Stethoscope Cover That Travels With The Healthcare Professional.
Through day-to-day contact with patients, Mrs. Giroux recognized the need for protection of the stethoscope.
Because of the hectic pace of healthcare in literally every type of clinical setting today, stethoscopes are not sanitized properly on a regular basis.
When Mrs. Giroux observed this harsh reality, she designed the StethoCLEANTM cover for stethoscopes.
Giroux Invents StethoCLEANTM To Cover Stethoscopes And Prevent Spread Of Germs From One Patient To Another.
The simple realization that skin-borne bacteria can be highly infectious is the driving force behind StethoCLEANTM.
Mrs. Giroux's innovative StethoCLEANTM cover assures that no stethoscope need ever touch one patient's skin and then be placed on another patient unprotected.
Mrs. Giroux invented and patented StethoCLEANTM so that it could be made available to clinical facilities around the world, and provides the easy to use, convenient, portable and disposable barrier protection essential to eliminating spread of disease from the skin of one patient to another. The result of one insightful nurse's observation of a risk to patient health and designed with the convenient feature of traveling with the healthcare professional for ease of use, StethoCLEANTM is today's latest essential measure of protection in virtually every clinical environment.
StethoCLEANTM is a trademark of St. Joseph Solutions, LLC. US Patent No. 6,575,917 B2
It is to the stethoscope what the glove is to the unprotected hand!
References and Artices
Hospital Acquired Infections Have Reached Near Epidemic Proportion.
University of Texas - Health Leader
Prime Time Live Story on ABC News.Com
Study finds a need to focus on broad control measures that will be effective for all organisms.
Infectious Disease News - October 2002
Staphylococcus aureus & Stethoscopes
The Medical Journal of Australia - 2003
Stethoscopes: a potential vector of infection?
Department of Emergency Medicine, Butterworth Hospital,
Michigan State University College of Human Medicine, Grand
Rapids, USA.
Contaminated Stethoscopes Are Common in Era of Antibiotic
Resistance
Infection Control Today - 2003
Doctors play roulette with infectious diseases
The Berkeley Medical Journal - Spring 1996
As patients get sicker, hospital infection rates climb
TRIBUNE-REVIEW - October 12, 2003
When wonder drugs don't work
TRIBUNE-REVIEW - October 12, 2003
Doctors Research Group Marketing Materials
Additional Sources
- Pittet D, Hugonnet S, Harbarth S, et
al. Effectiveness of a hospital wide program aimed at
improving compliance with hand hygiene. Lancet 2000;
356: 1307-1312.
- Smith MA, Mathewson JJ, Ulert A, et al. Contaminated stethoscopes revisited. Arch Intern Med 1996; 156: 82-84.
- Bernard L, Kereveur A, Durand D, et al. Bacterial contamination of hospital physician's stethoscopes. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 1999; 20: 626-628.
- Marinella MA, Pierson C, Chenoweth C. The stethoscope a potential source of nosocomial infection? Arch Intern Med 1997; 157: 786-790.
- Jones JS, Hoerle D, Riekse R. Stethoscopes: a potential vector of infection? Ann Emerg Med 1995; 26: 296-299.
- Stethoscopes: A potential vector of Infection? Annals Of Emergency Medicine, 1995;26:296-299
- Bacterial Contamination of Hospital Physicians' stethoscopes. Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology, 1999;20:626-628
- Microbiological Contamination and cleaning personal medical equipment. JAMA, 1998 280;6 Letters
What patients don't know can kill them
Lack of precautions costs thousands of lives
UPMC drops out of pilot project for lack of money, time
