Disinfecting Nonelectrical Tools

All areas that are being used for healthcare activities should be cleaned with either disinfectant wipes each morning and in between patients/procedures. Equipment should be all new out of the packets and clean. For things more major such as vasectomy’s, minor surgery or family planning clinics, areas should be cleaned everywhere with a disinfectant fluid and also with wipes, gloves should always be worn as well as other PPE such as aprons and hats. All equipment should be new from the packet and only touched by the person who is using

The general principals for environmental cleaning are to ensure the hospital environment is as clean as possible to reduce the risk of infection, and that all precautions are taken in accordance to legislation and Healthcare policy’s and guidelines. “To prevent the transfer of micro-organisms which may cause infection, and to prevent the transfer of foreign protein which may cause adverse reaction and pose the risk of spreading diseases e.g. vCJD. “

Wash your hands and all of the equipment with mild soap and water. As a final rinse on the equipment, use deionized water. Dry all equipment thoroughly.

After every appointment hygienist are required to properly sterilize and set up their rooms before their next patient. During breakdown, the hygienist disposes of all disposable items such as polish, prophy cups, suction tips, floss, and gauze. They will also place all tools used during the procedure including mouth mirrors, probes, scalers, and curettes into the ultrasonic to be cleaned and set the timer for time needed. At a later time, when time omits and the timer stops, the tools will be placed in the autoclave to be sterilized. The hygienist will sterilize any tools that cannot be removed from the room including but not limited to low and high speed hand pieces, the ultrasonic scaler, and the air and water squirting tips. They will also sterilize and replace chair covers. The hygienist will then prepare for the next patient by seating up fresh sterilized tools on the table including a mouth mirror, probe, various scalers and curettes, gauze, floss, prophy cup, suction tip and polish. Based on the patient the tools may differ. Once the hygienist has the room prepared they will obtain the next patients file and call back their next

Following the correct handwashing procedure, wearing the correct PPE, the correct disposal of waste and using the correct cleaning equipment when cleaning spillages, equipment and surfaces.

The reason Sterile Processing interests me is because it is a career that I stumbled upon in my early twenties and come to know and love. The lack of knowledge the public has when it comes to this department is troubling. It is a key department of every hospital and clinic as they are responsible for infection prevention; yet most people could not tell you who they are and what they do. There are many challenges these professionals see on a day to day basis and require a very intricate skill set. I am a Sterile Processing Manager, responsible for a 30 person team on implementing safe practices for reprocessing medical devices and instruments. I often at the interview process, come across applicants

There are two important things to do in a dental office in order to prevent cross infection. These two forms are sterilization and disinfection. According to the CDC and the Food and Drug Administration before either of these forms can be used you have to clean the instruments. This can be done either by hand or by using an ultrasonic cleaner.

Put used gloves and gown in to yellow infectious waste bin, which should be either just inside the room or outside the door before leaving the room.

The facility can assure that nurses’ aides and nurses follow the hand washing requirements by following and practicing standard health compliance. Let employee know the standard feature of when and why the hand washing compliance is applicable and how to do it. Nurses and nurse’s aide can use many strategies to remove microbes from objects and surfaces. Simply washing the object or surface with soap and water will remove dirt and some microbes. Or you can use disinfectant to kill microbes on the object or surface.

9. After the 48 hour time period the inhibition of the Escherichia coli bacteria around the disinfectant disks was measured. A ruler was used to measure the clearing from the edge of the disk to the perimeter of the clearing. Irregularities in the clearing were not included in the area of clearing.

D. Before using the glass electrodes, they must be washed in warm soapy water and put in the UV steriliser to ensure they are clean and free from bacteria. After the treatment they should be washed and wiped over with disinfectant and sterilised before being used again.

However, to keep these pieces of medical equipment up and running, they must take solemn practices of sanitizing and cleaning of the materials.

Dirty hands is the common source of spreading infection. It is very important to keep hands clean to avoid getting infected and spreading infection in the community. It is important to wash hands to keep hands clean. There are two ways to keep hand clean, one way is wash hands with soap and warm water while rubbing hands together for minimum 15 to 30 seconds. Indication of washing hands with soap and water is when hands are visibly dirty, before and after eating, feeding, using the toilet, after coughing or sneezing, after using gloves, taking care of patients. There is also second way to clean hands, but it is advisable to wash hands with soap and water all the time, but it can ignore when soap and water is not available so it is okay to use hand gel or foam in the form of sanitizer. This helps to clean hands or kill germs when hands are not visibly dirty.

First, you clean your hands (either wash or use hand sanitizer) prior to entering patients room.

* Hand washing is the most important method of preventing the spread of infection by contact (Ayliffe et al 1999). The Nottingham University Trust Policy on Hand Hygiene (2009) states that there are three types of hand hygiene, the first is ‘routine hand hygiene’ which involves the use of soap and water for 15 – 20 seconds or the application of alcohol hand rub until the hand are dry. The second is ‘hand disinfection’ which should be used prior to an aseptic procedure by washing with soap and water and applying alcohol hand rub afterwards. The third is ‘surgical hand washing’ which is the application of a microbial agent to the hands and wrists for two minutes. In addition to which a sterile, disposable brush may be used for the first surgical hand wash of the day although continued use will encourage colonisation of microbes. The third example is the most appropriate to any O.D.P undertaking the surgical role as it is the best way for the surgical team to eliminate transient flora and reduce resident skin flora (World Health Organization 2010). The first and second are important to any O.D.P undertaking any other role within the Operating Department as this is the best way to reduce the transient microbial flora without necessarily affecting the resident skin flora