Narrow-lumened instruments and endoscopes are one of your biggest reprocessing challenges. They have the highest risk of being improperly processed, notes Michelle J. Alfa, PhD, FCCM, a researcher in health care-associated infections. If the lumens and channels of endoscopes are not cleaned properly, high-level disinfection or sterilization may not be…

Read More

It’s one thing to have a policy on managing loaner instrument sets. But how do you put teeth in your policy so these sets can be reprocessed in time to provide safe care and comply with professional guidelines and regulatory requirements? Readers have asked how to get administrative support for…

Read More

When its instrument repair contract was up for review last year, the University of Virginia (UVA) Medical Center decided to look at the bigger picture. Rather than evaluating vendors solely on price, it looked for a company that was willing to partner in meeting its goals. The evaluation of 6…

Read More

Here is some advice from experts on a program to ensure clean, functioning instruments.   Take a proactive approach Sharp, well maintained instruments are critical to patient safety, surgeon satisfaction, and smooth OR case flow. Kerrison rongeurs, for example, “should punch cleanly, not rip, tear, or pull,” says Rick Schultz,…

Read More

Earnest Peachy, a perioperative tech, and Shandlee Woodward, a student nurse intern, are removing a trash bag from the scanner. Safety checklists are not the only concept the operating room has gleaned from aviation. Ten years ago, the 26-room OR suite at the Ohio State University (OSU) Medical Center in…

Read More

Missing instruments and supplies can be one of the OR's biggest frustrations. Chasing down instruments or retrieving items during a case wastes time, irritates surgeons, and prolongs the patient's time under anesthesia. At Exempla Good Samaritan Medical Center in Lafayette, Colorado, chronic problems had eaten away at morale. "We wanted…

Read More

A patient needs major surgery to remove 5 laparotomy sponges left behind during a previous case. The investigation finds that during an exploratory laparotomy, the circulating nurse introduced a 5-pack of sponges into the sterile field but did not enter the count on the worksheet or white board. Relief staff…

Read More

Narance, right, reviews the inventory list for a reorganized set with employee Eric Johnson. Amajor orthopedic case can take 30 instrument trays, some weighing as much as 40 pounds. A Bookwalter retractor alone is over 25 pounds. Hysterectomy sets can top 30 pounds. Day after day, OR and central service…

Read More

Surgical count discrepancies occur surprisingly often, in about 1 in 8 general surgery cases in a new study. The counts took an average of 13 minutes to resolve. In 60% of cases, the discrepancy was a misplaced item, such as a sponge on the floor or in the trash. The…

Read More

With the attention focused on best practices, evidence-based care, and similar measurements, it is no surprise that the endoscope care questions I'm asked most often revolve around my experiences with other hospitals, endoscopy centers, and office endoscopy practices. What is the average age of GI scopes at other facilities? Is…

Read More