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A Drug Diverter Comes Clean - Subscribe to Outpatient Surgery Magazine - December 2017

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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need to happen gradually. Most of our respondents (60%) agree that a switch to higher stan- dards is needed, despite their confidence that they're currently meet- ing the challenge nonetheless. "I have wanted endoscopes to be sterilized for years," says Trish Hebert, RN, BSN, MS, nursing director at the Springfield ASC in Flourtown, Pa. "Even the best high-level disinfection cannot kill spores of certain bacteria. And viruses and bacteria are becoming more virulent." Help needed But good intentions can go only so far without cooperation from man- ufacturers. Nearly half of respondents say they already sterilize their heat-sensitive endoscopes, but among those who don't, lack of guid- ance from manufacturers ranks high on the list of reasons. Many oth- ers point to a lack of equipment and space, or they insist that it's unnecessary if high-level disinfection is performed correctly. Can you be confident you that your facility will never be the source of an endoscopy-related outbreak? "I'm confident, but not stupid," says another respondent. "Human error can happen anywhere." "That's just one reason we need to move toward sterilization," says Ms. Ofstead. "It provides a margin of error we cannot achieve with high-level disinfection." OSM D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 7 • O U T PA T I E N TS U R G E R Y. N E T • 1 3 7

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