5 3
M AY 2 0 1 4 | S U P P L E M E N T T O O U T P AT 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
T
he importance of decontamination in preventing surgical site
infections can not be understated. I'll put it very simply: If a surgi-
cal instrument is not clean, it can't be sterile. If it's not sterile, your
patients are at risk. The handling that occurs between the point of
use and sterilization or high-level disinfection is critical to repro-
cessing instruments, and it all depends on these 5 elements.
1. Immediate action
Ideally, decontamination should begin before instruments reach the sterile pro-
cessing department — and before they even leave the OR or procedure room
— in the form of post-op pre-cleaning.
R E P R O C E S S I N G
SINK STEPS From instrument
handling to manual cleaning to per-
sonal protective equipment use,
proper decontamination relies on a
host of important details.
The Details of
Decontamination
The safety of your surgical instruments
depends on these 5 factors.
Rudolph Gonzales, RN, MSN, CNOR, CRCST, CHL
Dallas, Texas
Pamela
Bevelhymer,
RN,
BSN
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