What must the sterile team members avoid when draping the patient?

When draping the patient, sterile team members must ensure they avoid passing sterile drapes and towels over nonsterile areas. This is crucial because if sterile drapes come into contact with nonsterile surfaces, they can become contaminated. Maintaining the integrity of the sterile field is essential to prevent infections and complications during the surgical procedure.

To elaborate further, this practice of avoiding contamination helps uphold strict adherence to aseptic techniques, which are foundational to surgical practices. If sterile items are inadvertently placed in contact with nonsterile areas, it compromises the entire sterile setup and poses significant risks to patient safety.

The other choices involve practices that, while also important, do not directly pertain to the issue of maintaining sterility in the same critical manner. For instance, while using sterile drapes and avoiding dirty drapes are important policies, they do not specifically address the interaction between sterile and nonsterile areas as critically as the choice in question.