For non-critical situations, or situations involving electronic devices, stethoscopes, blood pressure cuffs, beds, monitors and other general hospital equipment, intermediate level disinfection is required. "Clean all equipment between patients with alcohol, use protective covering for non-critical surfaces that are difficult to clean, and hydrogen peroxide gas. . .for reusable items that are difficult to clean." Sterilization
Sterilization is a process intended to kill all microorganisms and is the highest level of microbial kill that is possible.Sterilization, if performed properly, is an effective way of preventing Infections from spreading. It should be used for the cleaning of  medical instruments and any type of medical item that comes into contact with the blood stream and sterile tissues.There are four main ways in which such items are usually sterilized: autoclave (by using high-pressure steam), dry heat (in an oven), by using chemical sterilants such as glutaraldehydes or formaldehyde solutions or by exposure to ionizing radiation. The first two are the most widely used methods of sterilization mainly because of their accessibility and availability. Steam sterilization is one of the most effective types of sterilizations, if done correctly which is often hard to achieve. Instruments that are used in health care facilities are usually sterilized with this method. The general rule in this case is that in order to perform an effective sterilization, the steam must get into contact with all the surfaces that are meant to be disinfected.
On the other hand, dry heat sterilization, which is performed with the help of an oven, is also an accessible type of sterilization, although it can only be used to disinfect instruments that are made of metal or glass. The very high temperatures needed to perform sterilization in this way are able to melt the instruments that are not made of glass or metal.Effectiveness of the sterilizer, for example a steam autoclave is determined in three ways. First, mechanical indicators and gauges on the machine itself indicate proper operation of the machine. Second heat sensitive indicators or tape on the sterilizing bags change color which indicate proper levels of heat or steam. And, third (most importantly) is biological testing in which a microorganism that is highly heat and chemical resistant (often the bacterial endospore) is selected as the standard challenge. If the process kills this microorganism, the sterilizer is considered to be effective.Steam sterilization is done at a temperature of 121 C (250 F) with a pressure of 209 kPa (~2atm). In these conditions, rubber items must be sterilized for 20 minutes, and wrapped items 134 C with pressure of 310 kPa for 7 minutes. The time is counted once the temperature that is needed has been reached. Steam sterilization requires four conditions in order to be efficient: adequate contact, sufficiently high temperature, correct time and sufficient moisture.