• Only a sterile object can touch another sterile object. Unsterile touching sterile means contamination has occurred.
• Open sterile packages so that the first edge of the wrapper is directed away from you to avoid the possibility of a sterile surface touching unsterile clothing. The outside of the sterile package is considered contaminated.
• Avoid spilling any solution on a cloth or paper used as a field for a sterile setup. The moisture penetrates the sterile cloth or paper and carries organisms by capillary action to contaminate the field. A wet field is considered contaminated if the surface immediately below it is not sterile.
• Hold sterile objects above waist level. This will ensure keeping the object within sight and preventing accidental contamination.
• Avoid talking, coughing, sneezing, or reaching over a sterile field or object. This helps to prevent contamination by droplets from the nose and the mouth or by particles dropping from your arm.
• Never walk away from or turn your back on a sterile field. This prevents possible contamination while the field is out of your view.
• All items brought into contact with broken skin, used to penetrate the skin to inject substances into the body, or used to enter normally sterile body cavities should be sterile. These items include dressings used to cover primary incisional wounds, needles for injection, and tubes (catheters) used to drain urine from the bladder.
• Consider the outer 1-inch edge of a sterile field to be contaminated.
• Consider an object contaminated if you have any doubt about its sterility.

Source: Adapted from Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN). (2018). AORN guideline quick view: Sterile technique. AORN Journal, 108(6), 705-710. https://doi.org/10.1002/aorn.12458.