Certification Board for Sterile Processing and Distribution (CBSPD) Sterile Processing Technician Practice Exam

Disable ads (and more) with a membership for a one time $2.99 payment

Prepare for the CBSPD Sterile Processing Technician Exam. Study with comprehensive quizzes and helpful resources. Ace your certification on the first attempt!

Each practice test/flash card set has 50 randomly selected questions from a bank of over 500. You'll get a new set of questions each time!

Practice this question and more.

For sterilization to effectively occur, steam must:

Be at least 80% humidity
Make direct contact with all surfaces
Be filtered to remove impurities
Undergo rapid cooling after sterilization

The correct answer is: Make direct contact with all surfaces

For sterilization to effectively occur, it is essential that steam makes direct contact with all surfaces of the items being sterilized. This is because steam sterilization relies on heat and moisture to inactivate microorganisms, and if any part of the instrument or material is not reached by the steam, that area cannot be properly sterilized. Direct contact ensures that the temperature and moisture levels are adequately maintained across the entire surface, effectively denaturing proteins and disrupting cell walls in microorganisms. If there are any barriers, such as packaging or nearby instruments, that prevent the steam from reaching certain surfaces, the sterilization process may fail in those areas, compromising the overall effectiveness. While humidity plays a role in steam sterilization, the specific requirement is that the steam must be saturated to carry heat effectively, but the stated humidity level of 80% is not a standard for effective sterilization. Options regarding filtering steam and rapid cooling are not pertinent to the core requirement of contact with surfaces for successful sterilization.