dor to vendor. Also follow the IFUs for your cleaning solutions and
processing equipment. And safely dispose of any single-use acces-
sories according to your facility's policy; same goes for environmental
cleaning.
The pre-treatment process often gets short shrift. "These steps are
easier to be missed, or performed incompletely, because of the desire
to move faster, and thinking that the steps that happen once the endo-
scope is in the reprocessing room will catch what was missed prior,"
warns Jeanine Penberthy, MSN, RN, CGRN, of University of
Washington Medical Center, who serves on the Society of
Gastroenterology Nurses and Associates (SGNA) board of directors.
2. Contain.
Once you perform pre-treatment, coil the dirty scope in
naturally large loops and place it in a dedicated, secure, leak-proof,
puncture-resistant, closed container clearly marked with a biohazard
label. The container should be large enough that the scope doesn't
need to be looped too tightly, which can cause damage. That's a major
consideration, as you want to extend the service lives of these fragile,
costly devices while keeping them safe for reuse. To prevent cross-
contamination, don't combine multiple scopes in the same container,
and don't place any related surgical instruments in the container
either, as they could puncture the scope.
Absolutely do not use drapes, pillow cases or bags to move dirty
scopes. Not only will using a secure container prevent any
spillage, but it will protect your staff and patients from possible
infection. If you do use bags that are designed for containing
soiled endoscopes, be sure to place them in a secure rigid contain-
er to protect the endoscope.
It's widely accepted that the length of time between withdrawal, pre-
treatment at point of use, and complete decontamination should be
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