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S U R G I C A L
S K I N
A N T I S E P S I S
ADDED BENEFITS
Streamlined, Sterile Supplies
A
fter standardizing our preps,
the space needed to store
prepping products was great-
ly reduced, as was the manpower
SELECT FEW
Nurses aren't the
only ones who
want prepping
options limited to
a few effective
choices.
required to stock the supplies. We've
tried to determine whether there was a
realizable cost savings, but our tracking system makes this nearly impossible. I can tell you that we've saved
loads of space, because the prep sticks
go directly in our specialty packs now. The only prepping agent taking up shelf
space is the povidone-iodine for scrub and paint, so materials management is
clearly happy with the efficiency of both stocking and picking for cases.
Infection control leaders like that the single-use products are sterile and come
with other sterile supplies. Sterile manufacturing of antiseptic products is an
issue the FDA keeps revisiting (although it's not yet decided to take action), so
we feel as if we're ahead of the curve there. Finally, nurses and surgeons alike
have expressed satisfaction. Nurses like that prepping is a much simpler
process — no more being asked to whip up cocktails in the OR — and surgeons
like that there's no imposition on the rest of their routines. Even for those who
still insist on iodine, we didn't take it away; it's just in a standardized, consistent
formula.
— Sharon L. Butler, MSN, RN
It also helped that our cardiac surgeons were already using the CHG/alcohol
product and that the neurosurgeons were using the iodine/alcohol product. We
didn't have to introduce completely new products; it was a matter of reinforcing
best practices for the ones we already had in stock.
M O N T H 2014 | S U P P L E M E N T
TO
O U T PAT I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E O N L I N E
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