Re:Contamination? (Score 1)

Where I work it is a rediculous waste of time to try and decon anything and everything someone touches. The fact of the matter is that most of the germs that one could get from a surface like that are pretty much dead from the light already. Only a few viruses are contracted through the dermal layer, and those are pretty rare. So long as you don't go catheterize yourself, or perform a throat-sweep with your own finger, you're fine. Since doctors and nurses wash their hands after every patient, etc.the dangerous germs are pretty much killed right there anyway. IN addition to that, there really is no difference from and electronic chart and a regular one. We in the ER reuse the same bunch of clipboards upon which all of the patient's paper is clipped.If you were worried about the charts, you'd also have to consider the actual paper, wheelchairs, desks, pens, door handles, syringes (just kidding), all the equipiment like the EKG monitor, the oximeter, etc. People forget that for the most part, the human body does a kick-ass job at protecting itself. I've worked in the ER for a long time, and I've NEVER contracted any type of disease, save for an occasional cold. But I could just as easily catch that at the supermarket!