Outpatient Surgery Magazine, providing current information on Surgical Services, Surgical Facility Administration, Outpatient Surgery News and Trends, OR Excellence and more.
Issue link: http://outpatientsurgery.uberflip.com/i/636774
new instrumentation is added or new methods of cleaning are institut- ed. Set reassembly After instruments emerge from the automated cleaners, assembly spe- cialists reassemble instruments trays. All trays are barcoded, so the spe- cialists can access electronic pick sheets and pictures of every instru- ment that belongs in the set. (Our tracking software lets us check where instrument sets are along the reprocessing pathway once they're scanned in at decontamination, assembly, sterilization and storage.) At this point, staff recheck and rebrush lumened instruments and demag- netize needle holders. They also inspect all instruments, checking for sharpness quality, visual debris, and damage or imperfections that could jeopardize effective use. We're trying to convert to the full-time use of rigid sterilization con- tainers — some instrument manufacturers have yet to validate their items for reprocessing in containers, so that's been a limiting factor — because they increase the likelihood of maintaining an instrument set's integrity throughout the sterilization process; issues related to blue wrap getting wet, ripped, rubbed or damaged are eliminated. Rigid containers also allow for minimal handling of sterilized instru- ments. Converting to rigid containers is an expensive option, but fiscally beneficial and environmentally responsible in the long run, because we're not using as much blue wrap and not having to reprocess instru- ments again when the integrity of wrapped package is jeopardized. Using our barcode tracking system, the assembly specialists scan instrument sets that have been prepared for sterilization. The system prints a barcode label that contains the time the set was reassembled, the tech who worked on it, the required sterilization cycle (steam or 8 6 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 6