staff hasn't followed your
storage policy."
From soiled to spoiled
scopes
Efforts to improve the high-
level disinfection of endo-
scopes focus on ensuring we
perform sink-side steps cor-
rectly each time, but don't
ignore the importance of how
your team handles scopes
after procedures end and
before they place them in
storage. Let's review the key
steps.
After wiping down a scope's exterior and flushing enzymatic deter-
gent through its channels at the patient's bedside, a nurse or tech
should place the scope in a rigid container for transport to the repro-
cessing area. We used to slide dirty scopes into leak-proof cinch
sacks, but the scopes were at risk of coiling too tightly when we
pulled the sacks closed. The soft sacks also didn't offer adequate pro-
tection against inadvertent bumps and drops as staff carried scopes
from procedure rooms to the reprocessing area.
We now use single-use biodegradable rigid containers, which at a
cost of about $4 each, eliminate the reprocessing and staffing expens-
es of cleaning reusable containers between uses. The closed contain-
ers protect staff who transport contaminated scopes to the reprocess-
ing area and eliminate the knocks and dings that can shorten the lifes-
pan of the delicate instruments.
1 1 8 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 9
• ON THE MOVE Staff at Henry Ford Wyandotte (Mich.) Hospital use
biodegradable, single-use transport containers to protect themselves
and scopes' delicate parts.
Kevin
Anderson
BSN,
RN,
CSSM,
CRCST,
CER
