to delay a procedure. The surgeons' thinking seems to be: "I'm not
happy to have to wait, but I would rather wait if it means prevent-
ing an infection."
2. Investing in
more instruments
+ containers.
Instrument inventories
should be sufficient to
meet anticipated surgi-
cal volume and permit
the time to complete
all critical elements of
reprocessing. Before,
if we had 12 to 15
laparoscopic cases on
the schedule but only 8
or 9 sets of instru-
ments, the techs in
central sterile would've
been under tremen-
dous pressure to turn
those sets around.
We've since increased
our instrument inven-
tory — sets and peel
packs alike — to
account for the case-
load. Doing so has
helped to eliminate
J U L Y 2 0 1 7 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y. N E T • 1 2 3
