Standards strengthen sterilization, disinfection process chains

Preventing infection from contaminated surgical tools requires attention to every link in a complex chain of processes, from point-of-use pretreatment in the OR to the moment the freshly disinfected or sterilized item arrives at the next patient’s bedside. For those on the front lines, manufacturers’ written instructions for use (IFUs) remain the go-to source for specific steps to follow. However, extensive research over the past several years has revealed more general opportunities for improvement, and the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI) and the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN) have revised their standards accordingly.