Certified Instrument Specialist (CIS) Practice Exam 2025 – The All-in-One Guide to Achieving Certification Success!

Semi-critical devices are defined as instruments that come in contact with mucous membranes. This classification is crucial in the field of infection control and medical device processing. Semi-critical items must be adequately processed between uses, as they are at risk of transmitting pathogens if not properly sanitized.

Mucous membranes are found in areas such as the mouth, nose, and other body cavities and are susceptible to infection. Therefore, instruments touching these areas need to be high-level disinfected or sterilized depending on the clinical situation.

Other categories of instruments are vital to understand: non-critical devices touch only intact skin and require lower levels of disinfection, while critical devices penetrate tissue or enter sterile areas of the body and must be sterilized. The mention of sterilized surfaces does not apply to semi-critical devices, as it pertains to a different classification of instruments. Understanding these distinctions is essential for proper infection prevention protocols.