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Outpatient Surgery E-Weekly

Contact Congress Over Drug Shortage Issues

A Kentucky congressman is urging surgical facilities to contact their members of Congress and request that they sign his letter demanding changes to...

N.J. Posts ASC Inspection Reports Online

State and federal inspection reports of New Jersey's ASCs are now available online, giving patients an opportunity to make more informed choices abo...

Are Opioids Necessary?

While it's not always practical, or even possible, to eliminate opioids from your post-op pain management regiment, reducing their use in favor of n...

Archive >  Infection Control 2003

Are Your Instrument Reprocessing Practices Surgically Precise?

It's not enough to know only how to do each step — your staff needs to know why, for how long and in what order.

Barbara Harmer, RN, BSN, MHA

include "_nav_tab.php";Instrument reprocessing is a multi-step process that has immense potential for error. Your staff must know the purpose of each step and how each phase interrelates to one another. Reprocessing includes all the steps performed to render a contaminated device patient-ready. Sterilization is the application of a terminal process designed to remove or destroy all viable forms of microbial life to an acceptable sterility assurance level.

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