Hidden Danger : Dirty Medical Tools Essay

According to the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), any worker who handles sharp devices or equipment is at risk, especially those who handle hypodermic needles/syringes, suture needles, butterfly-type needles, blood-collection needles, scalpels and IV stylets. OSHA also estimates that over 5.6 million workers in the healthcare industry and related occupations are at risk of exposure to bloodborne pathogens, with nursing staff suffering the most sharps-related injuries and subsequent infections.

The single use items need to be used as such to reduce the chances of transferring infection from one patient to another as a result of contaminated equipment. “When properly used, disinfection and sterilization can ensure the safe use of invasive and non-invasive medical devices” (CDC, 2008). The challenge is on the equipment such as endoscopes which are not single use. Adherence to the disinfection and sterilization policy is crucial and should be implemented at all levels. It is not only a risk to the patient for one to fail to properly clean and sterilize equipment but also unethical practice. Good post.

Dirty equipment – having dirty equipment which is not cleaned between patients can spread infection very fast lots of bacteria can be spread on a blood pressure cuff for example.

Has anyone ever considered how medical devices are prepared before a surgical procedure? Central Sterile Processing Department (CSPD) consists of services within the Hospital, in which reusable medical devices will be cleaned, prepared, and processed. The role for CSPD is to prevent infection transmitted by usage of medical devices. The procedure for hospital medical devices before surgery has a four part workflow process in: Decontamination, to Instrumentation, to Sterilization and Sterile Storage (Case Carts). An example is given for reprocessing an Intestinal Set and the supplies needed for the preparation of this medical device set.

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

Sterile Processing compromises a service of which the medical and surgical supplies of any medical facility’s equipment and instrumentation- sterile or non-sterile are cleaned, prepared, processed, stored, and distributed throughout the healthcare facility. There are several functions of this highly skilled team perform on a daily basis from decontamination to the sterilization of high risk medical implant devices. They are the first line of defense in infection prevention for any patient receiving medical treatment in healthcare facilities. Japp (2014) affirmed the importance of properly processing medical devices performed by Sterile Processing technicians for patient safety by stating a critical point “Not following the correct process can be detrimental to the patient as the device that we are assuming is safe for the patient may all actually cause severe illness or death” (p.

While shadowing my fellow upper cohorts during the clinic I had made many observations. Unfortunately I was only able to shadow one clinic, although I observed a lot. Marie was the first student that I was shadowing, she was the CA for the day. We started by stocking the cabinets with the necessities. Marie and I then took the dental tools out of the machines that cleaned, sterilized, and dried them. I was shown that there are two sides in the lab. What I mean by this is that the left side is a dirty side which you should always wear gloves so that you are always protected from the bacteria and germs that the tools carry. Everything on this side has to be handled carefully and you must always wash and sanitize your hands when you are through. The right side is the clean side where the tools and dental accessories are kept so that they stay clean and sterile. Next I was with Jennifer, although she had no patients that day due to a

The Joint Commission Accreditation Body assesses health care organization’s compliance with National Patient Safety Goals. The goal of the Joint Commission Body is to focus on critical aspects and patient safety issues in health care organizations, which can vary according to the setting of the health care being performed (Chassin, 2008). Infections occurring in surgical sites of patients account for 15% of all infections that transpire in a hospital setting, and the risk of death doubles in patients who develop infections. The dangers of surgical site infections include superficial, deep, and organ or space infections. The different infections include cellulitis, gangrene, MRSA, and wound sinus, which can lead to amputation, organ

Health Care providers must implement infection control at all times. This is essential in order to avoid any sources of contamination that would put patients at risk for infection as well as all hospital personnel. There are two important aseptic techniques: Medical Asepsis, and Surgical Asepsis. The first one includes hand hygiene, use of gloves, masks, gowns and routine

Atul Gawande explains the single biggest problem facing hospitals in the spread of infection in his novel, Better. This is expressed in his conversation with the infection control team, where it is said that “their greatest difficulty is getting clinicians like me to do the one thing that consistently halts the spread of infection: wash our hands. (Gawande, 2007, 14)” He notes that diligence, one of his three core requirements for success in medicine, plays a huge role in enforcing a policy like handwashing. While everyone knows hand washing is important, especially in a hospital, letting health care professionals ignore the practice and make their own decisions about its criticality harms the whole population.

The main of focus of the quality improvement program is always patient’s safety, needs, quality care and expectations. Even though the healthcare system is very critical as it involves the lives of other, there are some errors that can lead to undesirable consequences. One of the most common error that risks the lives of thousands of people including both patients and healthcare employees is the hand hygiene. Healthcare personnel are the leading source for the spread of Hospital acquired Infections. Every year about one million people die from hospital acquired infections in United States.

Stethoscope is one of the most commonly used medical devices on a clinical setting, the environment of which is often represented a potential vector for hospital acquired infections. Scholars highlights that the sterilization of invasive equipments and the disinfection of any kind of devices before the interventions are generally ignored (Kilic et al., 2011). Among those devices, stethoscope is the widely-used equipment with the most possibility of contamination of transmitted organism. Researchers emphasize that the increasing proliferation of infection required diligent hygiene of both hands and instruments between patients to reduce hospital acquired infections (Shaw and Cooper, 2014). Therefore, a survey is being conducted with a brief nurse-directed questionnaire to review perceived reasons for stethoscope antisepsis non-compliance and stethoscope antisepsis compliance. The purpose of this project is to improve compliance with stethoscope care before and after patient contact on the Acute Medical and Progressive Care Unit (D6/5) at University Hospital in Madison, Wisconsin. The following

Surgical site infections are considered preventable. Because such infections are considered preventable, there are legal consequences directly connected to such a condition. In this paper, I will discuss what an SSI is and the reasons on why it is considered to be preventable. I will also discuss the role of disclosure and legal implications that are related to SSIs, accreditation expectations, and continuous quality monitoring as it relates to SSIs.

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

“The Process Improvement in Stanford Hospital’s Operating Room” case has many issues when it comes to regards to its existing instrument provisioning process taking place within the Operating Room (OR) of Stanford’s Hospital. This process entails getting instruments ready for a surgery in the OR and the cleansing of these instruments afterwards; however, there are many problems that arise in this process.