their surfaces, making them easier to clean and
sterilize. Reprocessing techs will therefore be able
to return sets of properly cared-for instruments to
ORs at a faster clip. Point-of-use instrument care is
particularly important for instrument sets used mul-
tiple times a day for high-volume procedures.
It's important during the introduction of point-of-
use care to help OR staff understand the "why"
behind what they're being asked to do. When rolling
the concept out, include point-of-use protocols in
your facility's policies and enlist members of the
surgical staff to deliver the message to their col-
leagues. Be sure the OR staff knows that national,
evidence-based standards recommend the point-of-
use care of surgical instruments. Ongoing compli-
ance review is equally important to ensure the pro-
tocols are followed consistently. I recommend that
point-of-use care be included in your facility's annu-
al competency assessments.
Point-of-use care isn't yet universal, but it's heading
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in that direction. The Joint Commission updated their
standards two years ago to make the practice a
requirement (IC.02.02.01.02) and surveyors are check-
ing for compliance. During your next survey, don't be
surprised if the surveyor walks into the decontamina-
tion area and opens a case cart to see if instruments
have been sprayed with pre-treatment gel.
I've worked in three hospitals over the last 12
years, and they followed the same track: They learned
about point-of-use instrument care, then trained their
employees on how to do it and now it's a mandatory
policy. As your facility gets on the same trajectory,
you'll have a smoother running OR schedule, will pay
less for instrument repairs and keep your patients as
safe as possible.
OSM
Mr. Czarnowski (cczarnowski@stanfordhealth-
care.org) is the interventional platform educator
for sterile processing at Stanford Health Care. He is
also an associate professor of central service tech-
nologies at Skyline College in San Bruno, Calif., and
serves on the board of directors for the California
Central Service Association of IAHCSMM.
