Table 1.

Surfaces and sampling technique for the comparison of methods to assess thoroughness of environmental cleaning

	Sampling method
Location	Fluorescent marker	Adenosine triphosphate and microbiologic sampling
Bed rail	Between raised control buttons on the outer surface of the railing closest to room door	Adjacent to fluorescent marker
Overbed tray table	On the upper surface of the table, adjacent to and centered on the edge of the table closest to the hand-operated height adjustment mechanism	Adjacent to fluorescent marker
Call button	On the hand-held device, centered between the emergency button and speaker	Adjacent to fluorescent marker, including raised control buttons
Bedside telephone	Top center of the surface of the receiver, on the obverse side of the earpiece	Adjacent to the fluorescent marker including lateral dial surfaces
Bedside table	Corner closest to the patient bed on the drawer-side (front) top surface [if more than one table is present in the room, the table located to the patient’s right]	Adjacent to fluorescent marker
Chair	On the surface of the seat, in the rear corner closest to the patient bed [if more than one chair present in the room, the chair located closest to the patient bed]	Adjacent to fluorescent marker
Room sink	Corner of the surface adjacent to the basin, closest to the wall and room door	Adjacent to fluorescent marker
Room light switch	Upper left corner of the wall plate	Surface of the light switch plate, over a 2×2-inch surface around but not touching the switch itself
Room door knob, inner	Upper middle of the door plate behind the handle	Surface of the door plate, over a 2×2-inch surface around but not touching the handle
Bathroom light switch	Upper left corner of the wall plate [if electrical sockets are present in upper left, then the upper right corner]	Surface of the light switch pad, over a 2×2-inch surface around but not touching the switch itself
Bathroom hand rail (adjacent to toilet)	Lateral surface of the portion of the handrail farthest from the toilet	Adjacent to the fluorescent mark, with a circumferential sampling of a 2-inch length of railing
Bathroom sink	Corner of the surface adjacent to the basin, to the left and rear of the sink surface	Adjacent to fluorescent marker
Toilet seat	Rear left corner of the seat on the upper surface	Adjacent to fluorescent marker
Toilet flush handle	Superior surface of the handle closest to the plumbing connection	Adjacent to the fluorescent marker, with a circumferential sampling of 1/2 of the handle length
Bedpan cleaner	Surface of the cleaning mechanism behind the spray head (excluding the handle)	Adjacent to fluorescent marker, sampling all surfaces of a lateral half of the cleaning mechanism for a 2-inch length