Y
our OR staff is
under enough pres-
sure to achieve
excellent outcomes
and keep the surgi-
cal schedule on track during days
packed with cases from early
morning to late afternoon. On top
of all that, they're expected to
take good care of expensive new
instruments used during proce-
dures that grow increasingly
complex each year. Adding point-
of-use instrument care to their
already lengthy list of clinical
tasks will be as welcome as an
add-on case.
The good news is that treating
instruments at the bedside with
a spray or gel to keep them
moist until they reach central
sterile can be done in minutes
and actually increases overall
efficiencies. It's also important
to note that we're talking about
instrument care, not cleaning.
OR staff sometimes say it's not
their job to clean instruments.
Using the phrase "point-of-use
care" is helpful because it takes
"cleaning" out of the discussion
— and it's more accurate.
Let's explore how properly
caring for instruments in the OR
creates a partnership between
surgical teams and sterile pro-
cessing techs, keeps your facility
running smoothly, saves money
by extending the life of instru-
ment sets and ultimately reduces
risks of surgical site infections.
A U G U S T 2 0 2 0 • O U T P A T I E N T S U R G E R Y . N E T • 4 5
The Benefits of Point-of-Use Instrument Care
Bedside treatments improve workflow, patient safety
and the relationship between surgical teams and reprocessing techs.
TRANSPORT WHEN WET Spray or gel should be applied to surgical sets before they're taken to sterile processing so
bioburden doesn't harden before decontamination begins.
Pamela
Bevelhymer,
RN,
BSN,
CNOR
Casey Czarnowski, BA, CRCST, CSPDT, CIS, CER | Palo Alto, Calif.
