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R E P R O C E S S I N G
with case times may be helpful to
keep your staff ahead of the clock.
Keep in mind, too, that just
because you have an AER that
cleans as well as disinfects doesn't
mean your scopes can't still be
manually cleaned. The AER does
not write your facility's infection control protocols; you do. And, of
course, your staff needs to know how to manually reprocess a scope,
in the event that the technology breaks down.
4. Spot-test to be sure
Are your endoscopes clean enough? There are 2 ways to be sure: the
preemptive route of training, and the verification of spot-testing.
You probably encourage continuing education among your nursing
staff. What about your reprocessing techs? Can your budget spare the
funds and your schedule spare the time for them to get CEUs at conferences or online? Staff should be members of, and certified in their
duties by, a professional organization. Competency levels among
those who work in sterile processing should be established and verified. While the Joint Commission recommends every 3 years, I think
annual competencies are important. And make sure the techs who are
in charge of training new hires to the department are training them in
the correct procedures.
Don't neglect routine spot-testing to assess the effectiveness of your
scopes' reprocessing. There are several commercially available methods for accomplishing this quality assurance, including channel swabs
that change color or can be scanned for adenosine triphosphate to
detect the presence of residual organic matter; and test strips that can
Pamela Bevelhymer, RN, BSN
MAKE THE CONNECTION Whether your
staff does it by hand or by machine, a thorough
flush and soak is key to high-level disinfection.
