One step further

[16141944]

I would like the opinions of fellow members concerning a decontamination issue. At our facility we have been going an extra step by Sterising or steam autoclaving surgical items ( lenses, camera's, light cords and drills )after being manually cleaned. This is done so that SPD personnel feel safe about handling these items before processing.
Our director and manager have asked that we stop this practice because they feel that by doing this it is cutting the life expectancy of the surgical equipment. I know that SPD personnel are suppose to be meticulous when it comes to manual cleaning but we all know that not everyone fellows this rule. So for the safety of SPD personnel should we not go that extra step to eliminate or reduce the risk of infection.
In this day and edge of hospital infections being on the rise and the risk of "Superbug" doesn't the health and well being of SPD personnel far out weight the cost of repairs or replacement of surgical equipment?

[CSS TECH]

I would like the opinions of fellow members concerning a decontamination issue. At our facility we have been going an extra step by Sterising or steam autoclaving surgical items ( lenses, camera's, light cords and drills )after being manually cleaned. This is done so that SPD personnel feel safe about handling these items before processing.
Our director and manager have asked that we stop this practice because they feel that by doing this it is cutting the life expectancy of the surgical equipment. I know that SPD personnel are suppose to be meticulous when it comes to manual cleaning but we all know that not everyone fellows this rule. So for the safety of SPD personnel should we not go that extra step to eliminate or reduce the risk of infection.
In this day and edge of hospital infections being on the rise and the risk of "Superbug" doesn't the health and well being of SPD personnel far out weight the cost of repairs or replacement of surgical equipment?
Really an extra step that I think is not necessary! I don't know exactly what the term "sterising" means, but I guess it's some kind of process aiming at disinfecting equipment. If so, I would not comment on it, but steam sterilizing items after being manually clean in decontamination to prepare them for final sterilization is way too much. Just give the technician packing those items a nice new pair of gloves and the problem is solved. He can even wear mask and gown also if he wants. But above all, ask him to make sure all instruments are clean before they are wrapped. Tell him not to trust decontamination!

[Harvey Johnson]

Hello and welcome to the board 16141944, may I call you 161?
You bring up a good point about employee safety, cutting steps that your dept has become comfortable with to improve the bottom line is always frustrating.
If you are justifying using the extra steps because someone is not following rules or policy, it becomes a training or corrective action situation management should address.
We manually clean items not processed through the washer, last step wiping down with a quaternary disinfectant product before we pass items through the window, with no issues.
I agree with your Director and Manager that using the Steris or autoclave each time as an itermediate step before sterilizing only serves to shorten the item life. (as well as add to your labor time)

[sunshine]

I agree that you could eliminate that step. But look at it is as good news 161.....one less thing to do :) I understand you and co-workers concern though. Ask your manager for more info about manually cleaning items. You can get it from your co.reps. I'm sure they have your safety first 161,they just need to get you the facts along with the big change. Let us know how it comes out if you have a chance.

[Uprooted Scrub]

Good morning and Happy Holidays to all...

SPD hits the nail on the head with what I'd consider a safe practice for both employees and equipment...we also wipe down our heat liable equipment with a hospital grade disinfectant after it is hand washed.

Have a great rest of the holiday season, all!

Blaine

[cpdguy]

Well,
What a topic to bring up.

Remeber if you did not clean the item correclty , it does not matter what you do.

To me the question is" what level of disinfection" are you wanting at the various stages.

You answer that question you then know what to do.

Patinet and staff safety are important, but not ever step in the process must an item be sterile. It needs to be safe to handle or process in the next step.

To me you are setting up a 'double standard' for items that are processed. Why only these items,get the extra step ? How about the items coming out of your washer / they are only low level disinfection. Why are they not receiveing this ' special " step.

To me it is more about the staff understanding their process and what they do.

Aoong with what is cleaning , high level disinfections and sterilization all about and the role they play in what they do when it comes to handling items at each stage of the process.

If staff is concerned about "super bugs" : I would glaldy bet that if the staff was audited we would find people not wearing the proper PPE at times;taking short cuts; and so on. I am not picking on the staff but that is what happens.

Again, it sound like both managment and staff have not clearly identified their process and the staff does not understand what cleaning, and disnifiection and steriliation is about. It should not be about "life of an instrument" but about the proper process for each item.

Education,education, education, is the answwer to this questions. Once the staff and mangement understand the reasons they are doing something, this process and others will go away.

I can go into more on this but , once we undertand the reason why we do something, and this is brought about by education, the best practices will be used. That is the issue what is the best practice for the staff and the patient when it comes to cleaning. disinfection, and steriliztion of itmes so they can be handled and processed in a safe manner.

[wperez]

I agree that the extra step will eventually cut the life expectancy of you cameras, light cords and lens. I would begin with retraining the SPD tech's to decontaminate all your instrumentation properly. Remember if it isn't clean it will never be sterile! Happy New year!

[RHF]

I would add also that if there is bioburden on the instrument it would only end up getting baked on twice (if it's not found and removed after the first sterilization process).