STERILE PROCESSING
and opportunities for recontamination of clean scopes.”
With the two-cabinet process, transport is relatively simple. Using closed contain- ers, the SP team transports the scopes to the cabinet in the OR core and hangs them there. The challenge is keeping the scopes clean during handling.
Hand hygiene and use of personal pro- tective equipment (PPE) are highlighted in ANSI/AAMI ST91:2021, noting how users should don new, clean, non-latex gloves immediately before removing an endoscope from the storage cabinet. Buskol and her team have put into place processes to help drive compliant scope handling. “We have gloves attached to the dry cabinet for staff to don before removing a scope,” said Buskol. “We also have sani wipes so they can clean surfaces, such as the cabinet handles, after touching them.” In fact, Buskol emphasizes the impor- tance of hand hygiene to the team through- out each step of scope processing. When developing their standard processes, she met with the hospital’s infection control practitioner, and they determined at what points in each process staff members
Industry insights on the topic
Endoscope manufacturers and processing equipment suppliers offered their advice on scope aeration, drying, storage and transport, including how to make the case to hospital leaders for investments in these processes:
Doug Brown, Director of Sales & Marketing, Torvan Medical “Research drying of endoscopes. There is a lot of excellent data out there from key opinion leaders on the clinical necessity for it. The same can be said for borescopes. You can also show an ROI for a scope drying cabinet by citing standards that state an endoscope stored in a proper endoscope drying cabinet, in a lot of cases for up to 7 days, does not need to be reprocessed again prior to a procedure, where a scope not properly dried needs to be reprocessed again before a procedure. There is not only a cost savings on unnecessary reprocessing, but also on the wear and tear on an endoscope caused by repeated reprocessing.”
Ann Hewitt, Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Cenorin
“There are compelling financial and infection prevention reasons for thoroughly drying devices when they come out of an automated washer-disinfector. Many SP staff are familiar with the potential for cancelled low-temperature sterilization cycles when moisture is detected. They recognize that the cost to re-clean, re-disinfect, re-dry and re-package the contents of that load added to the cost of using an additional container of sterilant is considerable, in both materials and labor. Completely dry instruments would prevent these cancellations.” “They also prevent moisture-related issues in the OR. No one wants
to hear from the OR that there was a strike-through, or that a robotic arm has droplets coming out of it. The cost to carry additional inven- tory for replacement when there is a moisture-related event coupled
with the wait-time for the OR is relatively high. Decreasing inventory and increasing OR readiness and satisfaction are ample reasons to improve instrument drying.”
Richard Radford, CEO, Cenorin
“The same could be said about washer/thermal high-level disinfectors (pasteurizers). Many hospitals are reviewing the use of single patient use (SPU) plastic devices and switching to reusable devices. All these devices involve cleaning and exposure to water and require drying to safely complete the process for safe next use.”
Eric S. Smith, Infection Prevention & Control Specialist, Olympus
“Take the time to lay out and visually understand your reprocessing/ sterile processing flow and identify where drying/storage/transport fits. Most guidelines recommend assigning designated physical space for functions such as drying/storage. It’s important to understand how much space is available to perform that function, which may impact your review process and next steps.” “It’s also important to understand the number of procedures being
performed vs. the number of devices that need to be dried/stored/ transported. Take that a step further and identify the number of devices that need to be dried/stored/transported per hour/per day to meet your procedure volume. This will help you understand the number of drying devices your facility needs and may impact the purchase you make.”
22 December 2023 • HEALTHCARE PURCHASING NEWS •
hpnonline.com Dri-Scope Timer
“If you want to be prepared and don’t want to end up under the wire when scope processing guidance changes again make sure to constantly do your research. If one of the standards bodies suggests a new practice, expect that it’s likely to become a recommendation in the future. And then trial it.”
“When a new suggested practice arises, we establish our process and support- ing documents, watch someone unfa- miliar with the process try to complete it, grade their success and if they have problems change the process/documents accordingly.” “Because remember, those of us in
should don a new pair of clean gloves. Buskol translated this into practice by plac- ing hand symbols in printed staff guidance documents to clearly indicate when it’s time for a glove change.
Advice to others
When asked what advice she has for other SP teams in driving scope aeration, dry- ing, storage and transport best practices, Buskol stated:
department leadership positions can’t pos- sibly be at each team member’s side each time they perform a task to answer their questions. Therefore, you need to provide them with tools that detail each step so they can troubleshoot on their own.” HPN
References
1. ANSI/AAMI ST91:2021 Comprehensive guide to flexible and semi-rigid endoscope processing in health care facilities
2. Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN) revised Guideline for Processing Flexible Endoscopes
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