Nurse’s product battles germs

Jenn Giroux, a hospital nurse, saw a need for a method to quickly and thoroughly protect patients from the germs that collect on healthcare workers' stethoscopes, which often go unsterilized between patient exams. After experimenting with some baby products she had around the house, she came up with what could soon be standard medical equipment, StethoClean--a protective plastic sleeve that covers the diaphragm and the neck of a stethoscope so that it does not directly contact a patient. Giroux introduced her new product this fall at a meeting of the Association of Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology in Atlanta.