NEWS
Pitfalls to Avoid in Instrument Reprocessing by Nancy Chobin ~ August, 2007
All personnel handling instruments must protect them from abuse and damage. Instruments must always be clean, functional and sterile when needed. Proper use, handling, cleaning, sterilization and maintenance can keep instruments in good working order for many years.
Worth repeating - “The Sterile Processing Department is a major contributor to patient and surgeon satisfaction.” August, 2007
"The Sterile Processing Department is a major contributor to patient and surgeon satisfaction. To work efficiently and effectively, adequate space, efficient planning and proper processing equipment is needed."Nancy Chobin, RN, CSPDM, sterile processing educator, Saint Barnabas Health Care System
Wish-worthy CS design takes careful planning by Julie E. Williamson - August 2007
For many Central Service professionals, having a well-functioning, streamlined and efficient department is more of a dream than reality. Limited square footage, poorly designed flow and inadequate work spaces are all too common complaints, and insufficient storage space, poor ventilation, outdated fixtures, and less than stellar decontamination and sterilization equipment only add to the challenge.
To Flash or Not To Flash...That is the Question by Nancy Chobin ~ May 2006
Flash sterilization was designed to immediately sterilize a one-of-a-kind device that was dropped or contaminated in the Operating Room. However, flash sterilization today is more often used to sterilize instruments needed for a to-follow base because of insufficient instrument inventories. This is especially true for Orthopedics and Ophthalmology cases.
Care and Handling of Surgical and Endoscopic Instruments by Nancy Chobin and Terri Matthews ~ March 2006
Surgical instruments represent a major dollar investment for a facility. As such, this investment must be properly cared for and maintained for optimum usage and patient safety.
Instrument management systems move beyond tracking level by Julie E. Williamson ~ January 2004
A central service department returns a loaner orthopedic instrument set to the manufacturer only to have the company claim the set was never received--a mishap that cost the facility $60,000 in replacement expenses. A sterile processing team hunts for a tray that appears to have never made it back from the operating room, and the department still has yet to locate a hemostat that has long been sent out for repairs.
Endoscopy and Infection Control by Nancy Chobin and Sue Ellen Erickson ~ April 2003
Has this ever happened to you: today's schedule reflects 20 GI scopings. There are only 20 minutes scheduled between patients and there simply is not enough time to get everything done.
The Proper Processing of Procedure Trays by Nancy Chobin ~ March 2003
Many healthcare facilities assemble and produce procedure trays for use at the bedside or in departments other than the operating room to perform minor surgical procedures. These trays may be used to perform specific procedures such as a tracheotomy tray, a cut-down tray, a paracentesis tray, etc., or they can be designed as multi-purpose (i.e., an all-purpose tray) to keep the inventory of different trays low.
Instrument tracking — a science of its own. by Carren Bersch ~ March, 2003
Ask those in the operating room and they will tell you that new developments are on the horizon. Two major trends have surfaced and are bound to optimize processes and performance in the OR. One is the implementation of "bleeding-edge" software programs;
Rigid containers could pose risks - Safety Matters by Nancy Chobin and Sue Ellen Erickson ~ January 2002
The use of rigid container systems has grown dramatically for a number of reasons. These systems: Protect instruments from damage; Permit stacking of sets in storage, which saves storage space; Are ideal for transferring sets from facility to facility; Reduce problems with packaging material integrity breaches; Facilitate set-up and identification of instruments on the back table in the O.R.