Bacteria in Hospitals

Overview

I chose this project because when I am older I want to work in the healthcare field. Specifically an OB nurse. So I thought about doing something related to what I want to do when I am older. Then, that is when I came up with testing how much bacteria would be left on medical tools when sterilized. My project will help the hospital personnel know what metal of the surgical tools they use will get the most sterilized. I predicted that when cleaned with the 70% isopropyl alcohol, the stainless steel will prevent the most bacterial growth. I also predicted that when not being sterilized with the isopropyl alcohol, titanium will have the most bacteria growth. First, I gathered all of my materials that I needed. Second, I labeled four of the petri plates with the specific contents which were stainless steel control, stainless steel sterilized, titanium control, and titanium sterilized. After I labeled the Petri plates, I filled them with the nutrient agar. Then, I set out two of each of the metals to contaminate(one for the control and one to sterilize). After that, I sterilized one of each of the metals with the 70 isopropyl alcohol and then sterilized both pieces of each metal and swabbed them with a sterile swab and swiped it on a labeled petri plate. After 48 hours I wrote down what percentages of the petri plate was covered. Then I recorded that information into a graph then I repeated the procedure five more times. My first hypothesis was not upheld. When sterilized with the 70% isopropyl alcohol, the stainless steel samples had less bacterial growth on it compared to the titanium samples. My second hypothesis was upheld. When not sterilized, the titanium samples had more bacterial growth than the stainless steel samples.

Competition history

• AJAS 2024 Category not listed

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