Final answer:
The statement is true: critical items such as surgical instruments require sterilization; semicritical items like endoscopes need high-level disinfection; and noncritical items such as blood pressure cuffs require surface disinfection.
Step-by-step explanation:
The information provided is true. To achieve the necessary level of cleanliness for items used in a medical environment, different protocols are used based on the categorization of the item: critical, semicritical, or noncritical. Critical items, such as surgical instruments, cardiac and urinary catheters, which come into contact or penetrate sterile tissues or the bloodstream, require sterilization to eliminate all forms of microbial life, including spores. Semicritical items, such as endoscopes that come into contact with mucous membranes or nonintact skin, need high-level disinfection which kills all microbes except large numbers of bacterial spores. Finally, noncritical items, such as blood pressure cuffs, which may come into contact with intact skin but not penetrate it, require surface disinfection to kill most, but not necessarily all, microbes.