grooves and in lock boxes, which improves the decontamination
process, keeps instruments in excellent working order and ultimately
extends their usable life.
20% think it's OK to place small items in a plastic peel pouch with
instrument sets for sterilization.
When the FDA validates the sterilization parameters of peel pouches,
it is not done inside a rigid sterilization container. That means you
can't place a peel pouch in a rigid container and guarantee its con-
tents to be sterilized unless it has been validated for this purpose.
There are several products available — finger mats, for example —
for separating small instruments before sterilization. If you work with
fine instrumentation, it makes good clinical and business sense to
invest in the products you need to take care of them properly.
A majority of facilities keep current copies of AORN's recommended
practice guidelines for instrument decontamination, AAMI's ST79 and
instrument manufacturers' instructions for use in the OR.
Most surgical teams have easy access to instrument care guidelines,
but are they always referencing them? Time is money in surgery, and
some facilities unfortunately believe cutting corners during the clean-
ing and decontamination process is an acceptable way to shave a few
seconds off turnaround times between cases.
In addition, some manufacturers' instructions for use are ridiculously
long and contain so many labor-intensive and complex steps that they
essentially set your staff up for failure. Medical manufacturers need to
develop devices with streamlined reprocessing steps that can be realis-
tically achieved in a busy surgical facility. In the meantime, current
reprocessing instructions, however complex they are, must be fol-
lowed.
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January 2015 | O U T PAT I E N TS U R G E R Y. N E T
