Outpatient Surgery Magazine - Subscribers

What Surgeons Want - November 2016 - 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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N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 6 • O U T PA T I E N TS U R G E R Y. N E T • 1 0 5 Thinking of Buying … Donna Nucci, RN, BSN, CIC I f your techs man- ually reprocess dozens of flexible GI endoscopes every day, what are the odds they they're cleaning the first scope's chan- nels as well as the 20th scope's channels? Automated endoscope reprocessors (AER) take human worker variability out of the equation, producing flow rates that are stronger than those produced by manual flushing and delivering more consistent results. These are both key factors in preventing endoscope-related infections. Besides patient safety, there's also staff safety to consider. If you're asking staff to soak and hand-clean flexible endoscopes, you may be exposing them to dangerous, potentially carcinogenic, liquid chemical germicides — chemicals that can have toxic fumes and the potential to splash onto skin or into eyes. Generally, AERs include a wash phase, a high-level disinfection expo- sure phase and a rinse phase. The AER immerses the endoscope in the cleaning or disinfectant solution and pumps liquid chemical sterilants and/or high-level disinfectants through the scope's channels. Some also spray the surfaces of the endoscope that aren't immersed and don't An Automated Endoscope Reprocessor 7 questions to ask to find the AER that best suits your needs. • AER ADVANTAGE Automated endoscope reprocessors promote rapid scope turnarounds and less labor for your techs.

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