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/736989
know all that it takes to get their instrument sets up to the operating room. They just want them. Now. "They don't care!" says a reprocessing manager. "It's our job to get it done quickly and ready for their next case." More so than others, Ms. White knows the impatience the OR feels (What's taking so long?) and the pressure sterile processing feels (You need those instruments sterilized by when?). "Doctors want these instruments now, and they don't want to hear that they have to be reprocessed," says Ms. White, who splits her time working cases and washing instruments at her 6-OR, 2-procedure-room, freestanding ASC. "A lot of times, there's a disconnect between the SPD and the OR." To help her new reprocessing techs better understand what the OR team's up against, Ms. White has them dress out and observe cases. "That's when they see the fast pace and appreciate how quickly the OR needs instruments," she says. "So when the doctor says he needs instruments now, they understand the urgency. It's not something that can wait, especially in short, fast cases like tonsils or cataracts." Reprocessing's middle name is process, meaning you must carry out steps in sequence and for set times: sorting, disassembly, washing (manual, sonic, automated), cooling, wrapping and packaging, sterili- zation and monitoring. "We're trying to force a process that shouldn't have to be forced," says Mr. Brooks. "Speeding up things is not the answer. Any time you take that sort of focus, you start losing quality real quick." What will you say the next time a surgeon asks you to move heaven and earth to hurry his instruments back? "No, we cannot do that and provide safe care for your patient," is what Judith L. Clayton, MSN, RN, CNOR, manager of surgical services at Morgan Memorial Hospital in Madison, Ga., tells her docs. OSM O C T O B E R 2 0 1 6 • O U T PA T I E N TS U R G E R Y. N E T • 1 0 9