J A n U A R Y 2 0 1 8 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y. N E T • 1 7
A
fter a surgery, you sep-
arate out the instru-
ments from the case
by putting the used instru-
ments in one tray and the
unused ones in another. But
without marking the trays, it
can be hard after you
reprocess the instruments to
remember which instruments
belonged to which set. Our
solution: We place colored
marbles in the trays to keep
track of which instruments
belong together. For example,
put a red marble in both the
used and unused instrument
trays during reprocessing so
you know right away that they
go together. Use blue marbles
for another set. It makes it eas-
ier to keep the sets together,
especially if you have several
cases going on that day.
Pam Bowen, RN
Kennedy Health System
Washington Township, n.J.
pbowen2@kearneyortho.com
Don't Lose Your Instruments — or Your Marbles
• TRAY GAMES Use marbles to differentiate trays, which can help
keep surgical instrument sets together.
STAY ORGAnIZED
Pam
Bowen,
RN
