can down the road."
Sometimes a handful of
instruments are just pushed
into a rigid container after a
procedure and the tips of
scissors, tissue forceps or
needle holders — all deli-
cate instruments — can fall
into small holes in the rigid
containers and get bent,
damaged or broken.
"It's the end of the case,
they're hurrying and
they're putting instru-
ments into a rigid container," says Mr. Voigt. "Damage can occur when
you place heavier instruments on top of delicate instruments."
To prevent that at CentraCare Health, Mr. Voigt has conversations
with the OR team on a regular basis. If he sees something like that hap-
pening, he records it and reports it back through a process improve-
ment method.
4. Segregate.
Segregate your sharps from your delicate instru-
ments. You can put them in separate containers or use a surgical
towel to separate the sharps from the delicates (with the delicates on
top), says Mr. Voigt.
5. Use vacuum sterilization.
Switch from gravity to vacuum
sterilization — when it's compatible with the device's IFU — to
improve the efficiency of sterilization and cut down on the time that
instruments are exposed to steam. With gravity, steam comes from the
S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 9 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y. N E T • 9 3
• TOP HEAVY A heavy heart retractor placed on top of delicate cardiovascu-
lar instruments can cause damage.
Mark
Voigt/CentraCare
Health
