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staff, something currently mandated by only a handful of states.
"Every hospital does things differently," he says. "But everything is
based on instructions for use (IFUs). If staff can't understand or inter-
pret an IFU, they may improperly process a device, and that can lead
to infections."
It's easy to throw instruments into a sterilizer, push a button and
hope for the best, as casually as one might while loading a dishwasher
at home, but competent high-level disinfection requires in-depth train-
ing and understanding. "When you press the button on a sterilizer, it's
important to know what's going on and to be able to interpret the
printout," says Mr. Duro. "Some facilities just print them, sign them off
and file them. They don't even read them.
"An uncertified staff member in sterile processing can be very dan-
gerous," he adds. "We can't make decisions based on opinions."
Certification, he says, provides the needed foundation: "(It's) how to
put instruments in a washer, how to pack a kit, how to lay out instru-
ments when you build a set, what you're looking for when you inspect
an instrument, and so on. Take a basic instrument like a needle hold-
er. You don't just put it on the stringer and wrap it and sterilize it. You
have to look at it, make sure the tips are right, make sure it's function-
ing properly and make sure it's clean."
Of course, not all smaller facilities have sterile processing depart-
ments. They may have just one person who's trained and competent.
"But what happens when that person goes on vacation and the clinic
stays open?" asks Mr. Myers. "It's a battle for us (at APIC). You want
people who do the task to do it a lot, because the more they do it, the
more likely they are to be competent." But the flip side is that when
that person is out, the task falls to somebody who does the job rarely
and is bound to be rusty.
A facility may have recently added a new type of endoscope with a
