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Case Study 1: Decontamination Principles

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Case Study 1: Decontamination Principles

Decontamination is the most critical process in SPG for the safety of the instruments used during surgery. All the instruments must be washed, sanitized, and decontaminated to eliminate pathogenic organisms. Therefore, this case study will describe the decontamination process in a sterile processing department, concentrating on challenges witnessed whenever soiled neurological instruments are taken to the operating theatre: Case Study 1: Decontamination Principles.

Main Ideas and Supporting Details

Issues that Occurred and the Cause of These Errors

The main concern in this case is the loophole where contaminated neurological instruments find their way into the operating room. The sources of such faults can be described as the inability to clean efficiently, breakage of cleaning equipment, improper orientation of the workers, or working outside the existing sanitation procedures. If not cleaned well, surgeon’s instruments employed during surgeries, especially neurosurgical ones, are easily contaminated.

The Special Precautions for Neurological Instruments

There is still an immense need to thoroughly clean instruments used in neurosurgeries and ensure that they are sterile because they contact delicate tissues and increase the likelihood of infection. Sterile processing technicians must use enzymatic cleaning agents to eliminate proteins and tissues from the instruments before they go through the sterilization stages (Towfighi et al., 2023).

The Role of Sterile Processing Technicians in Preventing Errors

Sterile processing technicians ensure that instruments are cleaned thoroughly before disinfection and sterilization. Proper training is necessary to handle instruments exposed to sensitive tissues like the brain and spinal cord (Alfred et al., 2020). Technicians must follow a multi-step decontamination process, using the correct agents and methods for cleaning, disinfecting, and sterilizing instruments.

The Decontamination Process

The decontamination process takes three steps: cleaning, disinfection, and sterilization. Cleaning removes visible soil and biological debris; disinfection kills most pathogens but is not as effective as sterilization in ensuring instruments are free of all microorganisms, including spores. Each step in the process is critical in ensuring the instruments are safe and sterile for surgery (CDC, 2024).

Extra Efforts to Ensure Clean Instruments

Since instruments have to be clean and sterile, extra effort is required to check on the cleaning equipment and the sterilization cycle and employ the biological indicators (BIs) for checking the sterilization. Instruments are also to be checked by sterile processing staff before packing the OR for tidiness.

Solutions to Resolve the Issue

The problem can be tackled by tightening up the current cleaning procedures, dealing with personnel in the sterile processing department by providing them with better training, and properly maintaining and calibrating the equipment. Periodic surprise inspections should be made to ensure that implementations set for decontamination are ratified.

Conclusion

Cleaning is vital to reduce or eliminate risks to patients’ lives associated with healthcare-associated infections and to provide safe surgical instruments. Using the known guidelines and practices of cleaning, disinfecting, and sterilizing and some additional precautions with instruments that are most likely to be contaminated, SPDs can minimize the risk of spread of contaminations and ensure that the instruments being transported to the OR are indeed sterile.

References

Alfred, M., Catchpole, K., Huffer, E., Fredendall, L., & Taaffe, K. M. (2020). Work systems analysis of sterile processing: assembly. BMJ Quality & Safety, 30(4), 271–282. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjqs-2019-010740

CDC. (2024, March 11). Sterilizing Practices. Infection Control. https://www.cdc.gov/infection-control/hcp/disinfection-sterilization/sterilizing-practices.html

Towfighi, A., Berger, R. P., Corley, A. M. S., Glymour, M. M., Manly, J. J., & Skolarus, L. E. (2023). Recommendations on Social Determinants of Health in Neurologic Disease. Neurology, 101(7 Supplement 1), S17–S26. https://doi.org/10.1212/WNL.0000000000207562

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Question

Sterile Processing Case Studies Project

Objective

The purpose of the case study is to allow you to analyze information retained over the duration of the sterile processing program and apply that knowledge obtained to provide specific solutions to common issues that may occur within the sterile processing department.

Instructions

Choose two of the four topics listed below:

Once the two case studies are chosen, answer the questions using your own vocabulary and address the conflicts or issues with solutions specific to your topics of choice. To fulfill the requirements of this case studies project, you must employ research techniques. You can utilize your text or other credible sources from the internet to build a thorough paper that contains at least six main ideas with supporting details regarding the topic chosen and a minimum of three credible references.

The paper must be written in APA format with an extensive introduction, body, and concluding statement per case study. Minimum of four pages, double-spaced excluding title and reference pages per case study. Please refer to the rubric regarding specific grading criteria.

Case Study Scenarios

  1. Decontamination Principles:

Dr. Sarmiento is a well-known neurosurgeon at Baptist Medical Center. He is known for working on complex cases that involve the spine and other neurological tissues. This past week, his private scrub tech has discovered that dirty neurological instruments have made it into the OR.

The technician consults with the patient care manager of surgical services because the incident has been reoccurring over the past few months. With this knowledge, respond to the following questions:

  1. Sterilization Methods:

Kristine, a technician in the sterile processing department, has noticed that after the sterilization of surgical equipment and supplies that at least two out of every four loads sterilized for the day have been moist. She has consulted with her supervisor on effective ways in which she could troubleshoot the concerns with wet loads because it has now affected the department’s work efficiency and quality control.

  1. Preparation of Medical Equipment and Supplies:

Over the last month, the operating room has received rigid containers without filters, assembled instrumentation such as Poole suction devices in sterilized sets, and closed versus open packaged and processed instruments on the stringer and within the instrument sets.

  1. Inventory Control and Distribution:

The sterile processing department at Hershey-Chocolate Medical Center has an excessive amount of inventory. Management has decided to restructure the inventory system used in their facility and has asked you to research at minimum four different inventory systems that may help with the safe and efficient distribution of medical supplies and is also cost-effective.

Please review the rubric to see how you will be graded for this final project. Ensure that all of these areas are covered to ensure the best achievable score. Before submitting your assignment, check your work using Grammarly.

Length/Formatting Instructions

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