How to achieve sterilization success in your healthcare facility

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Sterilizing medical devices is essential for protecting patients and controlling the spread of infectious diseases. Unfortunately,medical facilities are struggling to do it properly. Figures collected by The Joint Commission’s Office of Quality and Patient Safety found that 74 percent of immediate threats to life in hospital settings had to do with poor sterilization practices.

Sterilizing medical devices is critical for patient safety and controlling the spread of infectious diseases. Unfortunately,medical facilities are struggling to sterilize their medical devices properly. Figures from the Joint Commission’s Office of Quality and Patient Safety show that 74 percent of immediate threats to life in hospital settings have to do with poor sterilization practices.

The rates of non-compliance with the infection control standard were much higher than you might think. 51 percent of hospitals and 58 percent of critical access hospitals and 53 percent of office-based surgeries regularly failed to carry out tasks required by the Infection Prevention and Control Standard IC 02.02.01.

It is difficult to understand why compliance rates are so low,but the report explains why these compliance rates are so low and what medical professionals can do to improve them. Here are some things you can do to help staff sterilize at your practice.

Adopt A Culture Of Safety That Supports The Reporting Of Safety Risks

Doctors won’t report risks to patients if they feel under pressure to stay quiet. Managers and leaders must create a culture that encourages people to talk openly about safety issues.

Make sure sterilization is a high priority for everyone at your meetings. Point out that unsafe practices in this area are leading causes of death. Talk about how failing to implement safety measures can cause harm to the company’s image,damage its reputation,cause legal actions,cause a problem to the health care system,and cause the CMPS to be unable to award benefits.

Use The Correct Procedures

There are many different sterilization techniques that medical professionals can use,depending on the type of medical equipment and its environment. Sterilizer chamber cleaning is different from cleaning surgical instruments.

There are many different types of cleaning materials that medical professionals can use. Hot steam,dry heat,ethylene oxide gas,chlorine dioxide gas,radiation,and vaporized peracetic acid are all possible options for sterilizing equipment. All of these methods can be applied to sterilize different materials,depending on how the material is prepared and what kind of chemicals are present in the environment. But none of these methods work consistently,especially when you consider the toxicological effects of some of them.

Some medical professionals simply don’t have the right information or training about proper cleaning methods. They may even do the wrong thing by not cleaning certain items thoroughly. Some professionals use the wrong cleaning method or fail to disinfect items properly,putting patients in danger.

It is also important to train staff in the correct ways to clean certain items. Alternatively,you may want to simply label each item clearly with the preferred cleaning method and instruct staff to follow the instructions as they appear.

Prioritize Disinfection

Hospitals should prioritize disinfection as a high-priority task that they do both operationally and strategically. Staff should understand that disinfection is very important,more important than,say,putting away the equipment or taking care of the next patient.

It’s important to get leadership on board with this. Leaders should show what middle-level managers and employees can expect from them.

Brief Teams On The Latest Sterilization Guidelines

You may wish to brief staff on sterilization guidelines. These guide team members on how to effectively handle their possessions. If there are many staff members in your organization,give them clear instructions on how to properly care for their items. This will help them to keep themselves safe and will also help you avoid costly repairs in the long term.

Follow the instructions from the equipment manufacturers at the worksite. When staff leave a site,they will be reminded of the procedures that are to be followed. Always make sure that staff members have access to the medical equipment you need,particularly if you have many staff members who move between facilities.

Employing a company like us at Preventative Medical Maintenance will help you with the equipment and services that you need to sterilize your patient successfully. Visit our website link above for more information!