A safe and efficient operating room requires central sterile processing. Sterilization errors, among other things, can cause operation delays and patient infections. Berkel Training Institute, a trusted provider of certified nurse aide training in Trenton, New Jersey, discusses frequent sterile processing mistakes and how to avoid them.
- Inadequate Cleaning of Instruments
Employees must receive the appropriate healthcare training to ensure they follow evidence-based sterilization guidelines. Establishing double checks is one way to avoid inappropriate cleaning. Clean trace equipment, which changes color or provides another signal that an instrument is clean, is another means to validate that it has been cleaned properly. - Putting the Wrong Instrument in a Tray
Putting the wrong instrument in the tray can happen due to similarities between different instruments. If a tray does not contain the necessary instrument for an operation, the surgery may have to be postponed, while a nurse or technician gets the correct tool or a suitable substitute. Training and checking the manufacturer’s code on the instrument can help sterile processing departments prevent misidentifying instruments. Hospitals should ensure they have enough sterile processing employees to prepare and assemble the instrument sets. - Flashing
Flashing, also known as immediate use steam sterilization, is the process of sterilizing an instrument with steam in the shortest amount of time possible according to the manufacturer’s guidelines between removing a sterilized item from the sterilizer and aseptically transferring it to the sterile field. It is advised that hospitals invest in enough instruments to limit immediate use and infection risk.
There is only one way to avoid all of these mistakes: sterilization technician training.
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