We liked this photo of this scrub tech so much that we ran it on last month's cover. Our mistake for not noticing the infection control breaches — outside cloth hat instead of a disposable bouffant cap, no safety eyewear and earrings — and the hospital's mistake for its less-than-perfect practices.

And there's the point: We both share the blame, we here at the magazine for not noticing the infractions before we published them (not the first or last time that will happen) and the hospital for straying from standard infection control practices (not the first or last time that will happen).

"The second I looked at it, I knew something was wrong," says Jenny Seddon, LPN, the director of purchasing at Midwest Surgical Management Group in Downers Grove, Ill. "Hat, goggles, jewelry."

Ms. Seddon called the photo to our attention. I explained to her that most of the photos that appear in these pages every month come from you, our readers. "Have a digital camera?" we'll ask a source. "Great. Would you please take a photo of _______ ?"

The photos aren't posed. And they're usually taken during a case. What you see is how they operate. This is not to absolve ourselves. It would be nice if we could filter out the photos that are contrary to AORN standards, OSHA, CDC and the like.

"We fight to get people to change," says Ms. Seddon. "If our staff sees someone wearing earrings in a national magazine, they'll say, 'She's wearing it. Why can't I?'"

We also heard from Patricia Castellano, RN, the infection control coordinator of the Ambulatory Surgery Center of Westchester in Mt. Kisco, N.Y.

"It's almost as if you're endorsing this practice," she says. "Your magazine is truly trying to help outpatient surgical facilties and patients. You don't want to indirectly endorse something that you really oppose."

Ms. Castellano cited us for a photo showing a most improper intubation: a gloveless anesthesiologist wearing a gold wrist watch and eyeglasses, and a goggleless tech wearing a scrub gown as a robe. "She should have a scrub jacket on," she says. Ms. Castellano also spotted the always-popular mask dangling around the neck photo. "It's either down and off or up and on," she politely reminded us.

"It's surprising that people submit photos of that type and don't realize that there's something wrong," says Ms. Castellano, a nurse for 37 years. "Your magazine should be proofed by someone who knows."

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