Sterile Processing

In a Quick Safety message to its accredited facilities in May, the Joint Commission (JC) alerted healthcare organizations regarding surveyor observations of increased non-compliance with standard IC.02.02.01, which requires accredited facilities to reduce the risk of infections associated with medical equipment, devices and supplies. Last year, according to the Joint Commission, this aforementioned standard was one of the top five non-compliant requirements for JC-accredited hospitals, critical-access hospitals, and ambulatory and office-based surgery facilities.

As sterile processing department (SPD) professionals, the questions often heard asked by surgeons, nurses and scrub techs are: “Where are my instruments?” or “Where are my supplies?” These two questions are usually asked when patients are already in the operating room (OR) suite prepped for a lifesaving procedure, when at this point any significant delay could result in infection or death. Occasionally the answer is “I don’t know,” which escalates the situation, resulting in high levels of anxiety for all parties involved. Unfortunately for SPD providers, during a busy day the answer is true, they simply do not know. When the search begins it can be hampered by numerous conversations and phone calls followed by panic for reasons which the OR has little understanding. 

Researchers from the University of Southern California and the Oak Crest Institute of Science have discovered the link between antibiotics and bacterial biofilm formation leading to chronic lung, sinus and ear infections. The study results, published in the current issue of PLOS ONE, illustrate how bacterial biofilms can actually thrive, rather than decrease, when given low doses of antibiotics.

Bacteria love to colonize surfaces inside your body, but they have a hard time getting past your rugged, salty skin. Surgeries to implant medical devices often give such bacteria the opportunity needed to gain entry into the body cavity, allowing the implants themselves to act then as an ideal growing surface for biofilms.