It's evident how quickly you can recoup the initial investment in
rigid containers. In fact, for us, the decision to invest in rigid
containers came down to the significant increase in the amount of
blue wrap we'd need to purchase based on the number of
orthopedic cases we expected to add. After comparing the cost of
switching to rigid containers with the added expense of buying more
blue wrap, I projected that we'd get a complete return on our initial
investment in about 3 years, even if we used the containers for only
our arthroscopy instruments.
The increased sterilization assurance, added protection of
instruments and long-term savings afforded by rigid containers
helped convince my center's leadership to transition away from
blue wrap for reprocessing high-use equipment. Focusing on the
big picture is what really convinced them that this was the best
5 2 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • M A y 2 0 1 8
Rigid Containers:
Size Matters
We recently added orthopedic
procedures to our case mix.
The new arthroscopy
instruments and new rigid
sterilization containers arrived
at roughly the same time.
Oops. Some of our containers
were too shallow and others were too short to house the
instruments. We had to return all of the containers for proper
sizes, so a word of caution: If possible, measure your instruments
before purchasing your containers to make sure they're a match.
— Shane Ricks, RN, MHS
• TAKE MEASUREMENTS Before you buy rigid containers,
make sure your instruments will fit inside them.
QUICK TIP
Shane
Ricks,
RN,
MHS
