Operating Room (OR) and Sterile Processing (SP) have a shared responsibility for the care of surgical instruments. The preparation for decontamination begins at the point of use (POU). Nevertheless, many organizations do not follow the guidelines of the current standards. The Joint Commission surveyors have been citing facilities for not following POU care and handling […]
Personal protective equipment (PPE) is dedicated attire and equipment for protection against infections materials. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) blood borne pathogen standards, employers must provide proper PPE to its employees and ensure PPE is being used appropriately.1 OSHA is regulatory, therefore if the OSHA standards are not followed a law […]
Professionals in Sterile Processing (SP), the Operating Room (OR) and Infection Preventionists (IP) are mostly focused on their particular role in patient care. They infrequently communicate with each other, unless of course there is a question or concern regarding a patient or an instrument set. However, it is extremely important that these professionals work together […]
Writing new or updating established policies and procedures or preparing for the next accreditation’s survey are both daunting tasks. With all the published standards, guidelines and recommended practices around reprocessing Sterile Processing (SP) managers may be baffled on which ones to follow. However, there are many ways to help interpret how these published documents relate […]
The Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN) published their updated “Guideline for sterilization” last September. The guideline covers recommendations for sterilization reusable medical devices by steam, dry heat, as well as, low temperature methods including ethylene oxide, hydrogen peroxide gas plasma or vapor, ozone combined with hydrogen peroxide and peracetic acid. In addition to addressing […]
Medical advances have led to an increased use of unconventional health care sites, such as offices, ambulatory-care centers, dental and other specialty clinical settings. Clinical or office-based practices may differ greatly from hospitals in their education and training of reprocessing employees and the physical design. ANSI/AAMI ST79:2017b Comprehensive guide to steam sterilization and sterility assurance […]
Recently, physician societies have published their own guidelines for reprocessing instruments and equipment (e.g., gastroenterology and ophthalmology). These guidelines are very confusing and somewhat disconcerting to expert reprocessing professionals for the following reasons: Those physician created guidelines did not go out for public comments, leaving no chance of input from reprocessing experts. Some recommendations […]
Care and handling of surgical instruments is a shared responsibility between the Operating Room (OR) and Sterile Processing (SP) personnel. Research has proven that preparation for decontamination must begin at the point of use (POU). However, many facilities are not following the guidelines. Surveyors from accreditation organizations such as The Joint Commission are citing facilities […]
It has been proven repeatedly that if an item is not properly cleaned it cannot be effectively reprocessed. Healthcare professionals know, “If it isn’t clean it can’t be sterilized or high-level disinfected”. The first and most important step in reprocessing reusable medical devices is thorough cleaning and rinsing. So how is cleaning defined? Let’s look […]
Any prudent sterile processing professional knows you must follow the manufacturers’ validated instructions for use (IFU) in order to verify that items can be effectively sterilized. Manufacturers have very strict rules and regulations that they must follow in order to get approval and clearance to take their products to market. As a sterile processing consultant, […]
