Outpatient Surgery Magazine - Subscribers

Would You Operate On This Patient? - October 2015 - Outpatient Surgery Magazine

Outpatient Surgery Magazine, providing current information on Surgical Services, Surgical Facility Administration, Outpatient Surgery News and Trends, OR Excellence and more.

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1 8 3 O C T O B E R 2 0 1 5 | O U T P AT I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E O N L I N E SAFE HANDLING Endoscopy Care Tips Endoscopes are delicate instruments and mishan- dling them can prove costly. Here are a few tips to avoid the handling errors that can damage these fragile tools. • Like a baby. Ask staff to dedicate themselves to proper endoscope handling techniques, from the time a scope is pulled for the first case until the endoscope storage cabinet is clicked shut at day's end. Tell them to carry and handle endoscopes with the same care that they would a newborn. • Safe storage. Hang scopes in well-ventilated storage cabinets. Keep insertion tubes straight to prevent moisture from pooling within the tube and to protect the angulation system and internal channels. Unlock dials and place variable stiffness scopes into neu- tral position. To maximize airflow through a scope's tubes and inner channels, remove its water-resistant cap and valves. • Color code clean endoscopes. As long as flexible endoscopes have been reprocessed within 5 days of use, it's OK to use them, says AORN, whose recommended practices for cleaning and processing flexible scopes no longer require reprocessing immediately before use. But keeping track of when each scope was reprocessed can be confusing when you're reprocessing dozens every day. Here's a simple solution: Attach a colored paper clip to the lip of the biopsy channel of every scope after it's been reprocessed. Each day gets a different color. Create a flip chart that tells the reprocessing department staff which color scopes hanging in the cabinet need to be reprocessed that day. • Along for the ride. Transport scopes from procedure rooms to reprocessing areas in covered plastic containers. The containers protect the scope from damage during trans- port and prevent cross-contamination. Ensure the container is big enough — the scope should be coiled loosely in the container to prevent buckling of the insertion tube. Place transportation containers on a large cart to make the commute easier. Some manufactur- ers sell reversible container liners labeled "clean" on one side and "dirty" on the other to notify staff of the scope's status.

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