ments in your trays and limit the trays to only those instruments being
used for the procedure. This reduces multiple unused instruments from
being exposed to sterilization over and over. At Omaha Surgical Center,
the eye trays used to contain around 25 instruments, some of which
weren't being used but still had to be sterilized because they were
brought in for the procedure.
"We took out those instruments that were only used occasionally
and put them into peel packs and placed them in 'cataract extras,' lit-
tle slots in our cupboards in each OR," says Ms. Sawyer. "We cut it
down to 12 instruments, so there were fewer instruments to clean
every time."
8. Use protective rubber mats.
Place a reusable rubber mat
in all your eye trays
to protect the deli-
cate instruments
from being damaged
in the trays.
Instruments rolling
around in the trays
can sometimes get
bent. The mats can
be sterilized at the
same time as the
instruments, further
protecting the instru-
ments from getting
damaged, says Ms.
Sawyer, who adds
that when you cut
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